Home care worker stole nearly €50,000 from elderly people – appeals court increased sentence to three years
The Turku Court of Appeal increased a home care worker's sentence to three years in prison for thefts from elderly people in Masku and Nousiaines. The victims were aged 77 to 90 years old.
Court of Appeal: three years in prison for home care worker who robbed elderly people
The Turku Court of Appeal has increased a home care worker's sentence to three years in unconditional imprisonment, according to Yle Uutiset. The man stole cash and valuables from elderly people's homes in Masku and Nousiaines during 2020–2022. The total amount stolen was at least €46,000.
The victims were aged 77 to 90 years old. The convicted man had worked as a home care worker for the joint municipal authority Akseli and had been given a key to elderly people's homes by his employer. The thefts were carried out mainly when the residents were not at home.
The Court of Appeal upheld the District Court's guilty verdict: the man was convicted of, among other things, nine aggravated thefts, four thefts, two attempted aggravated thefts, payment card fraud, drug use offence, petty theft, and firearms offence.
The Court of Appeal considered the acts to be particularly reprehensible because they targeted elderly and vulnerable victims, were repeated and premeditated, and were carried out in conjunction with another person. The crimes were committed mainly in January–March 2021. The Court of Appeal determined that the value of the stolen property alone was insufficient as a measure for the sentence, but rather the totality of the series of crimes warranted a harsher sentence.
The original District Court sentence was conditional. The Court of Appeal changed it to an unconditional three-year prison sentence.
The defendant had requested the dismissal of several charges and a reduction in sentence; the prosecutor, for his part, requested an increase. The Court of Appeal's decision can still be appealed to the Supreme Court by filing a petition for leave to appeal.
Source: Yle Uutiset