Police sergeant in con which duped disabled elderly relative out of home
A police sergeant has been found guilty of fraud after his disabled elderly relative was duped out of her house and £200,000.
David Gimbert, who is based at Staffordshire Police HQ in Stafford, bought a bungalow worth at least £80,000 for just £1 from his father’s cousin Janette Trim.
His father John Gimbert, a former constable in Staffordshire, was also found guilty of fraud after abusing his position as power of attorney over Miss Trim’s financial affairs. Miss Trim, who is in her 60s, suffers from severe learning disabilities.
John Gimbert, 64, asset stripped Miss Trim of around £200,000 and sold her home in Stoke-on-Trent to David, his eldest son.
The pair faced a retiral over a charge of conspiracy to defraud after jurors failed to reach verdicts at an original trial in February.
They were found guilty by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.
John Gimbert, of Westwood Park Avenue, Leek, was found guilty of four counts of theft between November 2002 and October 2004 in the original trial.
The court was told he raided Miss Trim’s inheritance, following the death of her father, by giving large cash payments to his two sons and daughter.
He bought three new Chrysler cars worth a total of more than £30,000 with money taken from her accounts – and he and his wife would use a ‘Motability’ car leased using her benefit money for their own purposes.
The ruse was exposed after staff at Staffordshire County Council became suspicious about John’s spending for his cousin such as for a new computer she would not have been able to use.
Following the verdict Deputy Chief Constable Nick Baker said: “We demand exemplary conduct and high standards from our officers that we expect to be maintained at all times.”
David Gimbert, who lives in North Staffordshire, and John David Gimbert will be sentenced on October 6.
