Lorry driver who posed as dead man next door to swindle £60,000 is jailed

dailystar.co.uk:

Hull Crown Court.Ben Hammersley, prosecuting, told the court Thompson had been unofficially caring for his 78-year-old neighbour, David Traylen, for almost 20 years.The court heard Mr Traylen did not have any known relatives or beneficiaries to his estate when he died on October 2, 2017.Thompson registered David's death with Hull City Council but then called up First Direct bank impersonating Mr Traylen and asking for the £28,000 in his savings account to be transferred into his current account.Posing as Mr Traylen, reports Hull Live, the lorry driver told the bank he was "very ill and wanted to sort out his funds".

He then wrote himself a cheque for £25,000.Over the next two years, the court heard, Thompson used the money for his family's day-to-day expenditure.

He continued to withdraw a further £6,367 using Mr Traylen's debit card.In October 2019, again posing as his dead neighbour, Thompson accessed a further £30,000 of uncashed bonds and transferred them into his own account.On November 11, 2019, Mr Traylen's sister, who lived in New Zealand, came forward to claim his estate.

She appointed a solicitor in the UK to liquidate the property, unearthing Thompson's fraud.A total of £61,356.25 was taken from Mr Traylen's accounts.In a police interview, Thompson claimed the money had been a gift from Mr Traylen, but later fully admitted to the offences.Stay in the loop with all the latest Daily Star news by signing up for one of our free newsletters here.Charlotte Baines, mitigating, said Thompson has had no previous convictions in his 54 years.She added: "He knows what he did was despicable and utterly regrets his actions."His intentions were good, he supported David Traylen when he was alive, David had no one to care for.