‘Greedy and arrogant’ manager stole £640k from vulnerable adults she was paid ‘generously’ to care for

A Sheffield woman whose ‘greed and arrogance’ led her to steal over £600,000 from the vulnerable adults she was paid ‘generously’ to look after has been jailed.
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Jurors found Dianna Turner, 53, guilty of defrauding 10 residents at the Glastonbury Guest House in Abbeyfield Road, Pitsmoor on Monday, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Prosecutor, Tom Storey, said Turner’s victims needed to be in supported living due to suffering from learning difficulties; mental health problems and addictions to drugs and alcohol.

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Turner, of Ecclesfield Court, Ecclesfield was a manager at the accommodation for supported residents when she stole their money through cash withdrawals and standing orders, over a nine-year period.

Diana Turner was jailed for seven years, during a hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court today (Wednesday, April 3)Diana Turner was jailed for seven years, during a hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court today (Wednesday, April 3)
Diana Turner was jailed for seven years, during a hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court today (Wednesday, April 3)

The mum-of-three was in receipt of benefits while she committed the offences, and did not pay tax on her £50,000 salary.

Judge Graham Reeds QC calculated her annual income to be ‘the equivalent of someone with a gross salary not far short of £100,000 per year’.

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As he sent her to begin a seven-year sentence today, Judge Reeds told Turner: “During that whole time you were paid generously as the manageress of the business...what you did in committing this fraud can only be explained by greed.”

“Cynically, you abused your standing with the residents and your position of trust with them, and authority over them, to take as much of their money as you could for as long as you could. I am sure this was arrogance on your part. You decided they didn’t need the money as they were being well looked after at the home under your management, and that if they didn’t need the money you would take it.

“There can be no other sensible explanation for the systematic way in which the weekly and fortnightly payments to you, and withdrawals of cash correlated to the days upon which benefits were paid into the residents’ accounts,” added Judge Reeds.

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The court heard how she siphoned her victims’ money to fund a lavish lifestyle that saw her take expensive holidays Dubai and New York; buy properties to rent out in Dubai and several high value cars including a Range Rover Evoque.

Judge Reeds accepted that a proportion of the £553,994 she withdrew from the bank accounts of

Dermot Hughes, defending, told the court that Turner’s 11-year-old daughter was likely to be significantly affected by her prison sentence.

“There is never a good time to be deprived of your only parent...but if you could identify the worst possible time to be deprived of a parent, it is perhaps the age her daughter is now.”

An investigation to determine the extent of the money stolen by Turner will get underway later this year.