British Care Worker Gambled $108K Stolen from Elderly Client 

A British care worker who gambled away £108,000 she stole from an 80-year-old client has been sentenced to six years in prison. 

Between August 2019 and April 2021, Anne Hill, 57, of Nottingham, England, stole £125,164 from Louis Woodward, for whom she was supposed to be a full-time caregiver. 

Hill was arrested in April 2021. Despite a mountain of evidence against her, she refused to admit guilt. During the subsequent two-year trial, Woodward passed away. But not before offering statements to police that helped convict Hill. 

“This was a betrayal of the very significant trust placed in you. You deliberately targeted him because of his vulnerabilities,” said Judge Mark Watson, handing down the sentence. 

“You took what you wanted, when you wanted it, stripping him of his life savings, and then trying to take even more.”

The Crime and the Gambling 

Hill began caring for Woodward, who had various mobility issues, in 2019. Between August of that year and April 2021, when she was arrested, Hill transferred more than £125,000 from Woodward’s account to herself.

At the time of her arrest, Woodward’s life savings had been cleared completely, and his main bank account was in overdraft. Hill had also attempted to refinance the victim’s house mortgage to the tune of £93,000. But that transaction did not complete before she was arrested. 

Detectives later found that Hill gambled £108,000 of the stolen money, as well as booking her and her family a holiday to Turkey. The £100,000 was gambled in 17,000 bets placed at various online casinos, sports betting, and bingo platforms, including at British bookmaker William Hill. 

The thief told police that Woodward had given her £60,000 plus other expenses to pay his bills. Woodward, before he died in mid-2021, disputed that account in on-the-record conversations with police. 

Police also discovered that Hill had spent thousands gambling prior to her time caring for Woodward, despite government benefits being her only income. 

Despite a mountain of evidence against her, Hill did not accept her guilt and took a full jury trial. The court found that during her trial, she falsified a letter from a friend of Woodward referencing her character. 

The Consequences 

On Friday, August 16, 2024, Hill was found guilty of five counts of fraud and one count of perverting the course of justice (for a faked letter). This week, on September 16, she appeared in Nottingham Crown Court, where she was sentenced to six years in prison. 

“On being referred to Nottinghamshire Police, a swift arrest was made, followed by a detailed investigation, which included working with various partners to ensure Mr. Woodward was thoroughly safeguarded in his final weeks and an in-depth review of financial data to build a strong case,” said Nottinghamshire Police’s Detective Sergeant Daniel Weaver, in a statement.

“The other victims in this case are the beneficiaries of Mr. Woodward’s will – the animal charities and long-standing friends he had chosen to support after his death. We will now look to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover available funds from Anne Hill, so that his final wishes can be fulfilled as far as possible.” 

In a similar case in the U.S., but at much higher stakes, a Florida lawyer was recently accused of stealing $1.8 million from his clients, for whom he was supposed to be managing trust funds of deceased relatives. He reportedly spent much of the proceeds on gambling at the local Hard Rock Casino Tampa.