Cancer-faking carer who stole £143k from 96-year-old man to splash on lavish holidays avoids prison
A cancer faking carer who stole £143,000 from a 96-year-old man for lavish holidays to Spain, Barbados, and New York has avoided prison. April Jo Richardson, 32, of Stansted Close, Chelmsford, was found guilty of fraud by abuse of power and fraud by false representation at Inner London Crown Court, but dodged jail with a 20-month sentence suspended for 21 months. Investigators from City of London Police said Richardson 'spun an intricate web of lies' which included having cancer and desperately needing help while caring for an elderly dementia patient. In one case she posed as a cancer nurse called 'Sonia' and sent a message to the patient's husband pleading for financial aid for the 'last remaining months of her life'. Richardson was employed by KarePlus, on behalf of Essex County Council, as a carer in 2018. In this capacity she befriended the husband of a patient in her care. The patient suffered a stroke in 2011 and was in advancing stages of dementia...