Carlisle carer jailed for stealing £75k from elderly couple

Rebecca Fidler's victims trusted her implicitly and said they "had nothing to live for" when her betrayal came to light

An "out of control" drug-taking gambling addict stole more than £75,000 from an elderly couple while working as their carer.

Rebecca Fidler, 34, was recruited to help the couple, aged in their 80s and 90s, from Carlisle.

She was supposed to use their bank card to withdraw their pension but instead cleared out their life savings to fund gambling, cocaine and takeaways.

Fidler admitted theft and was jailed for 30 months at Carlisle Crown Court.

She had been employed through a private company and carried out her crimes between September 2019 and April 2021.

During a "sophisticated" attempt to cover her tracks, the court was told she moved money within the victims' accounts before transferring it into one in her maiden name.

Online references stated "cleaning" and "shopping" as she made dishonest transactions often several times a day, the court was told.

When the couple asked about obtaining bank statements, Fidler, of Holywell Crescent, Carlisle, made up lies about "technical problems" as she sought to keep hold of their card.

Bank staff noted suspicious activity but Fidler claimed the couple's card had been left in her car which she falsely said had been stolen.

Rebecca Fidler was jailed for 30 months after stealing over £75,000 from an elderly couple

The couple implicitly trusted Fidler, the court heard, and had "no inkling" she had been taking from them.

They were described as being "devastated" when they found out she had stolen £75,287, leaving them with only around £2,000.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke told the court: "Both of them said they had nothing to live for and asked how could they afford to survive."

Accepting the suspicious transactions should have been picked up earlier, the bank had since reimbursed the couple to the tune of £40,000.

The man has since died.

Fidler had also gone "digging" by asking what the couple had told police following her arrest.

Defending, Andrew Evans said Fidler, who had no previous convictions, was remorseful.

"Had this been done to her parents, she would have wanted the perpetrator to go to prison," he said.

Jailing Fidler for what he called "a dreadful offence", Recorder Julian Shaw said: "What you did when you were entrusted with their bank card was systemically to steal from this very elderly, very vulnerable and entirely trusting couple."