Conman jailed for cash scams

Daniel Mather: jailed

A CALLOUS conman who deliberately targeted the vulnerable and elderly has been jailed for two years.

Hard-hearted Daniel Mather, who was desperate for cash to support his family, stole more than £1,000 from 10 victims over six months.

One of his victims was an 82-year old woman suffering from terminal cancer and dementia. He took £750 from another pensioner, who trusted him enough to give him her bank card and PIN.

Manchester Crown Court heard Mather was arrested in April after conning his first victim. While on bail he targeted seven more. Four years ago, he had received a suspended jail sentence for similar offences.

Jailing him, Judge Maurice Greene said: “This was confidence fraud involving multiple elderly and vulnerable victims. “They were planned and persistent acts over a significant period of time, and while the amounts concerned were not all sizeable, they were to your victims.

“I accept you had a number of personal problems and need, not greed, was your motive. But you then preyed upon others with needs.”

Father-of-two Mather, of Longfellow Crescent, Oldham was initially caught after conning 85-year-old Sheila Mayall of Turf Lane, Chadderton. He knocked at her door and suggested her gutters needed replacing and other work.

She gave him her bank card and PIN and told him to withdraw £250 from her account.

Two days later he told her his ladders had been stolen and asked for more money. Mrs Mayall told him to take no more than £100, but later found he had withdrawn another £250, following this by taking another £250 two days later. he tried to obtain another £200 but was arrested days later.

Later 82-year-old cancer and dementia sufferer Rose Ogden trusted him when he visited her home in Ripponden Road. He took a number of small amounts of cash from her.

He stopped while she went into hospital and resumed when she returned home. When she became concerned about his behaviour her nephew told him not to come back.

Vanessa Thompson, defending, said Mather had been desperate when his disabled partner lost benefits and left a “gaping hole” in the family’s income. He turned to crime to provide support for his family, she said

Mather pleaded guilty to 10 counts of fraud, with four more taken into consideration.