The brother of a frail pensioner scammed out of £16,000 says the man responsible for stealing his money deserved a longer prison sentence.
Allan Lawson, of Broughty Ferry Road, repeatedly raided 67-year-old Benno Wolecki’s bank account between March 2016 and May 2017.
The 39-year-old was jailed for six months at Dundee Sheriff Court after previously being found guilty of the offence.
Mr Wolecki’s brother, 66-year-old Eric Wolecki, said although he believed Lawson’s sentence should have been longer, he was delighted at the outcome.
Speaking outside court, he said: “I thought it would be longer, considering the amount that he stole off my brother and what he put my brother through.
“But he got the jail so that will do for me.
“What he put my brother through before he passed away was horrendous.
“£16,000 is a lot of money.
“My brother was just such a happy-go-lucky guy and he (Lawson) took advantage of him when he was so frail.”
Lawson had initially denied a charge of fraud between July 15 2014 and May 8 2017. But he was convicted of the theft of a total of £16,259.21 between March 2016 and May 2017.
The court heard Lawson had known Mr Wolecki “for decades” and looked to him as a “father figure”.
Sheriff John Rafferty said: “He became of infirm mind and you had access to his bank account and over a period from March 2016 to May 2017 you emptied his bank account and on regular occasions you made transfers and stole more than £16,000 from this man.
“In the circumstances the only appropriate sentence is a jail sentence.
“It’s necessary to punish you and to deter others from taking advantage of vulnerable, aged and sick people.”
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