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Instead of treating Rita Barnsley with dignity, those running the Amberley Care Home in Brierley Hill saw her as a way to make money. Former manager Jamiel Slaney-Summers and Lyn and Graham Walker, who owned the home, were found guilty of defrauding Rita by abusing their position. The three tried to get the lion's share of Rita's estate by crudely drawing up a will, raising alarm bells with Rita's cousin Verna Woodley who alerted Dudley Council and the Care Quality Commission. Slaney-Summers, 65, had already plundered Rita's bank account before her death in August 2021 to fund games of online bingo. Dudley Council's trading standards department investigated the financial abuse, collecting enough evidence for prosecutor Mark Jackson to secure guilty verdicts at Wolverhampton Crown Court last week. The trading standards team described the case as one of the biggest recorded convictions for elder fraud in the country. Councillor Phil Atkins, Dudley Council cabinet member responsible for trading standards, said: “I welcome the decision of the jury, which brings to an end a long and painstaking investigation by our superb trading standards team to bring these three people to justice. “Their intentions were clear – to fleece this poor, vulnerable woman of all the money she had worked her whole life to earn. “It was an horrific abuse of trust by three people who she was relying on to look after her best interests. "Instead they financially abused her and would have taken everything she had but for the dogged determination of her cousin and our trading standards team. “This case is a warning that as a council we will not tolerate elder abuse.” Fiercely independent Rita moved into the Stourbridge Road care home after becoming unwell in May 2020. She told Verna she only wanted to be there a matter of weeks. However, Slaney-Summers and the Walkers ensured she became isolated and reliant on staff. At the time, Graham Walker, 74 and Lyn Walker, 71, of Ribbesford Close, Cradley, owned the care home. Slaney-Summers, 65, of Raven Hays Road, Birmingham, was the registered manager. A "new" will written in different colours and two sets of handwriting was created which made Lyn Walker and Slaney-Summers executors and benefactors. When it became obvious their fraudulent will was being investigated they fell out and began blaming each other. The Walkers went on a cruise and claimed they could not receive phone calls and Slaney-Summers left her job after clearing Rita's room of financial documents. During the trial the defendants' tall tales were seen through by the jury. Graham Walker claimed he could not use the home's computer after investigators found searches about fraudulent wills but he did admit scrolling through the internet looking at classic cars and Slaney-Summers insisted she did not pen the new will as "she could not write at the time because of a health condition". The court case almost fell through after Slaney-Summers repeatedly missed days through ill health. However, Judge John Butterfield ensured a verdict was reached by issuing a bench warrant so the former manager was taken to Foston Hall Women's Prison after every hearing. The trio will be sentenced on December 5.
