Mike Rainford and Sam Healey were instructed to represent the registered manager of a care home alleged to have been involved in a large scale conspiracy to defraud contrary to common law. The firm advised, assisted and represented the client for over two and a half years, from the original police interview up until the conclusion of the trial.

It was alleged by the prosecution that our client, alongside the owners of the care-home and other staff members, took advantage of vulnerable residents of the care home in order to defraud them over a number of decades. In particular, it was suggested that a number of residents were groomed and encouraged to distance themselves from their family members so that those involved in the fraud, valued at over £4 million, could gain financially. The prosecution also relied upon the fact that the defendants were appointed as the resident’s next of kin, obtained power of attorney, and became beneficiaries and executors of their wills.

In order for a jury to properly convict the defendants, they had to be satisfied that there was an agreement to dishonestly, and intending to gain for themselves or another or to cause loss to another, make false representations to others. To undermine the prosecution’s case, extensive evidence was obtained to support that our client had acted honestly and in good faith, and that she at no point deliberately made misrepresentations to the residents or others in an attempt to defraud them. In presenting our client’s defence we engaged the expertise of a handwriting expert to demonstrate that our client’s signature had been forged, carefully considered the metadata of important documentation to show our client’s lack of involvement in preparing such documents, highlighted important similarities between our client and other individuals who were not alleged to have been involved in the fraud, and advanced strong evidence as to our client’s good character.

Having heard extensive evidence from both the prosecution and the defence, in a trial lasting over a year at Liverpool Crown Court, the jury could not be satisfied of our client’s involvement in the alleged fraud and she was acquitted of all counts that she faced.

Mike Rainford and Sam Healey worked with Michael Gomulka and Sam Blom-Cooper of counsel at 25 Bedford Row.