An elderly caregiver of two intellectually disabled adults has been sentenced to home detention after stealing the married couple’s money 86 times. David Stanley Jones, 76, appeared in the High Court at Auckland on Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to one representative charge of theft, covering 86 occasions over two years. Although the total cash taken only amounted to $5962, Justice Timothy Brewer said Jones had shown no remorse for his offending and said he had grossly abused the trust of the victims in his care. The court heard the victims, a married couple, lived in a supported living environment because of their intellectual disabilities and “significant health problems”. Their IQs were assessed as being 99 per cent lower than the general population of their age group, the court heard. Jones was employed by a disability service between November 2011 and October 2013, during which time the trio’s relationship became so close the victims called him “dad” and allowed him access to their bank cards, pin numbers and passwords for their banking. “The defendant was in full control of the complainants’ day to day activities to the extent that they were not permitted to speak to anybody in his absence and would put their signatures anywhere he instructed them to,” according to a summary of facts. Jones abused his position by stealing the victims’ money in a variety of different ways, Justice Brewer said. He transferred money from the couple’s accounts into his own by manual transfer and automatic payments, he withdrew cash from ATMs, used their Eftpos cards at service stations, kept cash sent to the couple by their family, and stole a Samsung Galaxy phone intended for the husband. Neuropsychologist Valerie McGinn submitted victim impact statements to the court on behalf of the couple, saying their trust in others had been broken. The woman in particular had her confidence in others shaken – her sister said Jones had “made himself out to be a saviour and I trusted him entirely”. “They need to be able to totally trust those who are employed to care for them. The overall effect has been that she has felt scared to live in her own home,” McGinn told the court. “She has had trouble sleeping, feels anxious and suspicious of others and her self esteem is thoroughly diminished.” Her husband seemed to have handled the offending better, but his relatives believed the emotional damage was “deep seated”. In a pre-sentence report written by probation services, Justice Brewer noted that Jones said he did not believe the money he withdrew was for personal advantage. “In other words, you do not accept responsibility for your offending and you show no remorse,” Justice Brewer said. The starting point for the sentencing was two years and six months imprisonment, but after discounts were applied for personal circumstances including Jones’ age and his lack of previous convictions, as well as his guilty plea, Justice Brewer arrived at a sentence of less than two years jail. That meant Jones qualified to serve a home detention sentence and Justice Brewer agreed it was appropriate. Jones was assessed as having a low risk of reoffending and a low risk to others and therefore the public didn’t require protection from him, Justice Brewer said. He sentenced him to 11 months home detention and ordered full reparation be paid back to the victims, at the rate of $50 per week.
