A couple posing as carers plundered thousands of pounds from their elderly victim’s savings to fritter on alcohol, cigarettes and cannabis.

Michelle Gilliam, 38, and Ashley Knox 42, of Ramsgate, siphoned more than £10,000 from John Baynes’ accounts as he suffered poor health and social isolation.

The fraudsters won his trust to the extent he bought them a car, while they used his bank cards to withdraw substantial sums.

They were handed suspended prison sentences at Canterbury Crown Court after admitting their “disgraceful” crimes at an early opportunity. July 15

Mr Baynes told the court how he believed the pair were his friends and how they’ve left his ability to trust others shattered.

“I feel now I can’t trust anyone and anyone who comes into my house could be a suspect, and that’s not fair on them,” he said.

“I never suspected they were stealing from me.”

The scam began shortly after lockdown in June 2020, as restrictions began to lift, when Gilliam worked for Caremark Thanet.

She would soon introduce Knox to Mr Baynes and the pair would drink alcohol at his home in Ramsgate together, prosecutor Natasha Dardashti said.

But once Mr Baynes trusted the pair with his bank card to help with shopping they stole a total of £11,500.

The swindlers were arrested in 2021 after social services identified the fraudulent withdrawals, the court heard.

Handing down an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Catherine Brown branded their actions “mean” and “disgraceful”.

“Their own immature approach to their finances seems to be at least one of the causes of their offending behaviour...”

She told the pair they preyed on a "very vulnerable man”, adding: “He was completely taken in by you - it was the conduct by you of mean offences.

“The reason I’m giving you a chance is because I think you are genuinely remorseful and I want to make sure nothing like this happens again."

The court heard Knox would make the withdrawals largely with Gilliam’s knowledge, then waste the money on cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol.

In mitigation, their barristers said they were remorseful, of previous good character, and wished to pay back the money.

Paul Valder, representing Gilliam, added the pair had a “childlike simplicity”, with their scheme “bound to fail.”

“Their own immature approach to their finances seems to be at least one of the causes of their offending behaviour,” he went on.

In the dock, Knox could be seen comforting Gilliam as she continually wept throughout the hearing.

Knox, who admitted stealing £11,500, was handed 30 rehabilitation days and a four-month curfew, as he is unable to work due to cerebral palsy.

Gilliam, who admitted taking about £10,500, was handed 20 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work.

The unemployed couple, of West Cliff Road, were ordered to pay £500 compensation at £25 a month.