A HEARTBROKEN son has branded his dad’s partner as “evil” after she fleeced him out of more than £100k.
Manipulative Jean Stone, 79, swindled dementia sufferer Fred Pullman out of thousands of pounds in four years.
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The pensioner systematically emptied Fred’s bank accounts in the last years of his life as he was battling the illness at their home in Gussage St Michael, Dorset.
A judge last week ruled that Stone and her grandson Robert Warner “cynically and systematically” stole his life-savings to “line their own pockets.”
She was jailed for 18 months at Bournemouth Crown Court for her role, while her grandson failed to appear at the hearing.
Fred’s devastated son Graham, 67, has branded Stone as “evil” for what she did to his dad, and hopes that she “rots in jail”.
Speaking to The Sun he said: “What she did to my father is beyond words – she is nothing but evil.
“She planned this whole thing and within two years the money my father had built up over years of hard work had been stolen.
“She pretended to look after father but in reality she wormed her way into father’s life with the sole intention of taking all the money as his health deteriorated.
“This woman ruined the final few years of my father’s life and she has robbed me of my inheritance – I can’t imagine what sort of person would do such a despicable thing on a vulnerable old man.
“She can rot in jail for all I care.”
Graham became even more suspicious when Jean attempted to make him agree that the family home should be split between him and Jean’s own daughter Christine.
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He discovered that the phone bill hadn’t been paid, and contacted social services who reassured him there was no cause for concern after a visit.
But he then contacted police after debt collectors contacted him to say that his father had taken out a £10,000 loan and no repayments had been made.
After Fred’s dementia became worse he had to be moved into a care home, Jean never once visited him and didn’t even attend his funeral when he died in June 2015.
Widower Fred first met Jean in early 2009 after a chance meeting at a luncheon club near the family home, and within weeks she had moved into the family’s three-bedroom semi-detached home.
But Graham, who lives in Poole, Dorset, quickly started to suspect that Jean didn’t have his father’s best interests at heart.
Graham and his wife Sandra visited Fred weekly for shopping trips, and were reassured that money was being taken care of.
He said: “Father explained that Jean was a friend he met at luncheon club and would be looking after him for the time being – but she never moved out and sold her own home.
She can rot in jail for all I care.
Graham Pullman
“A year later Jean asked us to only visit and take shopping fortnightly or when asked to sit with father when she went out with her daughter.
“In December 2013, I broke my hip after a fall and couldn’t visit because my recuperation took a long time.
“During this time, Jean appears to have stopped caring for dad and he would go out in his underwear or nightwear walking the village after she had left him alone.
“On one of these outings a neighbour rang social services and they took him from the house for his own safety. He was dirty his clothes were not clean and the whole house stank.”
Neighbours who knew Fred are still reeling from the conviction, with one saying that the pensioner became “withdrawn”.
They added: “She was a particularly nasty piece of work and no-one really had much time for her – and her attitude was probably driven by the fact she was stealing from him.
“Fred was always very careful with his money and didn’t splash out on anything expensive.
“It’s despicable that someone who was supposed to be caring for someone who was vulnerable should rob him of all his live-savings.
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“She deserves everything that has been coming to her even if it means that she dies in prison.
“I know she’s elderly and frail but the law is the law and she is answering for her crime.”
Another neighbour said: “You think back and wonder if there was anything that anyone could have done to stop such a crime – but they never really had much to do in the village in Fred’s later years.
“If we had known that she was stealing all his money we would have said something.”
The three-bedroom house in Manor Road, Gussage St Michael was sold for £225,000 in 2016.
After Fred’s death Graham was finally allowed to clear the house after the council rehomed Jean, discovering that anything of value had been sold.
They also found two cheque book stubs which had proof of large withdrawals and who these were made out to.
He added: “We had bank statements come and these showed that his accounts had been emptied. This appears to have happened within a year.
“We then had call from a neighbour to say that Jean was now burning all paperwork so we contacted the police.
“During the time father was in the homes, Jean didn’t visit him or even ask about his health nor did she attend his funeral.
“She remained in father’s house for several months, giving her time to cover her tracks and during this period she stopped paying bills and tried to put them in my name by saying that I was the owner of the house.
“He would never take a loan as he was always very careful with money – the only loan in his life was his mortgage.
“We contacted the bank but they would not talk to us as Jean had taken out a Power of Attorney.”
• Graham has not been paid for this interview but The Sun has agreed to make a £200 donation to Dementia UK.
