Moment trusted cleaner is caught stealing cash from 85-year-old cancer sufferer’s purse after her family set up a CCTV camera in her bedroom
- Julie Baldwin, 47, had known Barbara Woolston’s family for years before working
- She initially tried to trick family into thinking Ms Woolston had dementia
- But shocking CCTV footage shows her rifling through handbag and stealing cash
- She admitted theft by employee for offence committed on December 12, 2019
This is the moment a cleaner was caught on camera stealing £200 from an 85-year-old grandmother with cancer after convincing the woman’s family that she was ‘losing’ her money due to dementia.
Julie Baldwin, 47, had known Barbara Woolston’s family for years before she was hired to clean for her at her home in Hull.
She initially claimed she hadn’t stolen any money and tried to trick the family into thinking Ms Woolston had dementia, but after the family set up a CCTV camera in her bedroom they caught her in the act.
Shocking footage, shared by Ms Woolston’s family, shows Baldwin going into Ms Woolston’s bedroom and taking her handbag out from the bedside table.
Julie Baldwin, 47, had known Barbara Woolston’s family for years before she was hired to clean for her at her home in Hull
Baldwin (pictured) initially claimed she hadn’t stolen any money and tried to trick the family into thinking Ms Woolston had dementia, but after the family set up a CCTV camera in her bedroom they caught her in the act
She rummages inside until she finds a wallet and opens that up to try and get some cash.
It seems she doesn’t find anything so puts the wallet back but keeps looking in the handbag scrabbling for money.
She comes away empty handed so replaces the handbag but then gets out another of Ms Woolston’s bags and opens that to search for cash.
She takes some money out and places it on the bed before hurriedly tossing the handbag back where she found it, picking up the money from the bed and leaving the room.
Shocking footage shows Baldwin going into Ms Woolston’s bedroom and taking her handbag out from the bedside table
She takes some money out and places it on the bed before hurriedly tossing the handbag back where she found it, picking up the money from the bed and leaving the room
She was charged with theft by employee for the offence committed on December 12, 2019, at Beverley Magistrates’ Court, which she admitted.
Baldwin was hired by the victim’s family to care for her after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and could not keep up with day to day housework due to being ill.
Barbara’s granddaughter, Sophie, told Hull Live after the court hearing: ‘My nana had started to tell us that she was losing her money, and on occasions Julie had told me that she thought my nana was losing her memory because she kept misplacing all of her money.
Baldwin (pictured) was charged with theft by employee for the offence committed on December 12, 2019, at Beverley Magistrates’ Court, which she admitted
‘At this point we thought my nana had the onset of dementia as it was becoming more regular that she was ”losing” her money, until we realised that it was a pattern.
‘When my family was speculating that they thought it was Julie who was stealing the money I stuck up for her and told them that Julie wouldn’t do this to Nanna, we were too close to Julie for her to do anything like that.’
Ms Woolston’s family eventually grew suspicious and decided to install a CCTV camera in her bedroom. On December 12, 2019, Barbara told her family she was missing money again after Julie had been around earlier to clean.
They downloaded the CCTV footage that was recorded and when it was played back, were horrified to see Baldwin taking money out of Barbara’s purse in her bedroom after rifling through her bag.
Sophie added: ‘My nana is very vulnerable, she was 85 when it happened and for someone to use the fact that she’s got dementia to say that she doesn’t know what she’s on about is hurtful and disgusting. I don’t know how anybody could steal from an elderly person given the circumstances she was in.’
Badlwin was given a £595 fine and a 14-week community order as well as 12 rehabilitation days.
Source: Read Full Article
