Financial adviser gained 'vulnerable' elderly woman's trust, then conned her out of brother's £40k inheritance

A financial adviser who stole more than £50,000 from a vulnerable, elderly woman has been locked up.

Winifred Hawthorn had no surviving family members when Daniel Williams began taking advantage of her. Ms Hawthorn, who had worked as a radiographer, passed away before seeing justice.

A kindly neighbour who grew suspicious of Williams claimed that she had become ‘scared’ to remain at her home in Bury. She spent the last period of her life, aged in her early 80s, in a care home.

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Williams, 55, from Didsbury, who said he had ‘issues with gambling, alcohol, and prescription drugs’, has now been jailed for two years and two months for fraud.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Ms Hawthorn came to know Williams after her brother passed away, as he had dealt with his affairs. Between 2017 and 2019, three of her siblings had died, leaving her without any surviving family members.

She also had no children. Although she was said to have been ‘articulate, intelligent, and fiercely independent’, Ms Hawthorn was ‘vulnerable’, prosecutor Kate Gaskell said. She had inherited about £450,000 following her brother’s death.

Williams was a self-employed financial adviser ‘affiliated’ to IPP Group, a financial advice company. He began to visit Ms Hawthorn’s home monthly, where they discussed her finances over a cup of tea.

He advised her to invest £400,000 with National Savings, and £50,000 in Premium Bonds, then began to ask her to write cheques to him ‘for his time and services’.

The con artist bought an iPad for Ms Hawthorn, a religious person, to watch church services on. Her home did not have broadband or Wi-Fi. He was ultimately named as her executor, and had power of attorney.

But Martin Cronshaw, a neighbour and gas engineer who had been referred to Ms Hawthorn by a friend and had carried out work for her siblings, became suspicious of Williams. He was puzzled when he saw the iPad.

After asking her further about her dealings with Williams, Ms Hawthorn said that she had made out cheques to him personally. Mr Cronshaw, described as a ‘rock of support’ to Ms Hawthorn after he would regularly help her with shopping and other jobs, was advised to contact police.

Derek McAllister, the managing director of IPP Group, was also informed. Checks revealed that Williams had worked with IPP since 2005, and that there had been no previous incidents of concern.

Prosecutors said that in 2019, Williams had told Mr McAllister that he had ‘issues with gambling, alcohol, and prescription drugs’. There were concerns that Williams’ debts had been ‘increasing’.

Ms Hawthorn contacted IPP, and the firm found that they had no record of Williams having been made executor of her estate. If they had known, the company would have advised against it, the court heard.

An investigation revealed that Ms Hawthorn’s investments of £400,000 and £50,000 had not been recorded with IPP. Williams was able to provide an email confirming the £400,000 investment, but not the £50,000.

Williams claimed his laptop may have been ‘hacked’ and that some information may have been missing, But on July 19, 2021, he handed in his laptop at the company and resigned later that day.

In total, police discovered that seven cheques totalling £54,820 had been made out to the defendant. They ranged from £340, to the highest being £31,000. Ms Hawthorn died in March 2022, before the investigation concluded.

Williams, of Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud by abuse of position. Judge Angela Nield jailed him during a hearing on Wednesday.