Carer jailed for neglect after leaving elderly 90-year-old emaciated, dehydrated and delirious

She was paid £750 a week but failed to care for the victim's basic needs
Jailed: Mairead Tansley, 49, was paid £3,000 a month to care for the victim.
Met Police
Francesca Gillett12 June 2017

A north London carer who was paid £750 a week to care for an elderly man has been jailed after leaving him emaciated, dehydrated and delirious.

The victim, a vulnerable 90-year-old man, was found in a state of “extreme neglect” by police who visited his Enfield home in September 2015.

His carer, Mairead Tansley, 49, was being paid £3,000 a month through standing orders from the victim’s bank account to care for him – but police said she instead “took advantage of his fragile state”.

Tansley, who was from Enfield, also hoarded her belongings in the victim's house, cluttering several rooms with possessions which would not fit in her own home.

Hoarder: Mairead Tansley stored her belongings in the victim's house.
Met Police

Officers were first alerted to what was happening after the victim’s bank noticed Tansley had been withdrawing cash from the victim’s bank account.

When police searched the victim’s home they found Tansley – who was a non-registered carer – had filled rooms of the victim’s house with her personal belongings.

Among the belongings hoarded at the victim’s house were women’s clothes and handbags and £50,000 in cash.

In an interview with police, Tansley claimed she suffered with obsessive compulsive disorder and said her home was full of hoarded items.

She added that she had been storing her possessions at the victim's house because she had run out of space.

Tansley, of Tynemouth Drive in Enfield, was jailed for nine months at Wood Green Crown Court after pleading guilty to neglect.

She was also charged with theft and fraud but those charges will lie on file.

Met DC Leigh Moss, who investigated the case, said: “The victim in this case was vulnerable in every sense.

“Tansley was employed to meet the victim's care needs, but instead took advantage of his fragile state and neglected even his most basic needs completely."

"I hope that the sentence handed down today will bring a measure of comfort to the victim's family."

The victim died in February last year, just four months after being discovered in a neglected state.

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