:00:09. > :00:15.It was daylight robbery, caught on security camera. The victim, a
:00:15. > :00:22.pensioner, was on the where her money was been stolen. Have you
:00:22. > :00:28.ever seen a crime as brazen as this? The answer is no, 30 years
:00:28. > :00:34.with Nationwide and this is a very unique. This elderly woman became a
:00:34. > :00:40.victim of so-called friends who visited her every day. These people
:00:40. > :00:45.were opportunistic thieves. It was clear the intention was to take her
:00:45. > :00:49.money. They were going to leave her penniless. The it is something
:00:49. > :00:54.people do not like to think is happening and there are more people
:00:54. > :01:00.who are vulnerable. This couple, Seamus and Colleen McPolin, pleaded
:01:00. > :01:04.guilty to stealing almost �100,000 from Mel Irvine, aged 85, who
:01:04. > :01:10.suffered from dementia. In police interviews, Seamus said he did
:01:10. > :01:20.nothing wrong. She is not a victim of a crime there is no crime. She
:01:20. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:27.Seamus and Colleen McPolin nearly got away with it. They almost
:01:27. > :01:31.succeeded in stealing the entire life savings of a vulnerable
:01:31. > :01:36.pension. How did they come so close to making off with the money? What
:01:36. > :01:46.tripped them up and what about the rest of the cash that police say is
:01:46. > :02:08.
:02:09. > :02:13.unaccounted for? The missing money It was a simple crime, but it
:02:13. > :02:17.raised complex questions about how we treat vulnerable older people.
:02:17. > :02:21.To the outside world, Seamus and Colleen McPolin did not seem like
:02:21. > :02:27.calculating criminals. They appeared a kind couple, willing to
:02:27. > :02:34.visit an elderly woman and keep an eye on her. How often was Seamus
:02:34. > :02:40.here and what was his relationship to her? He arrived every morning. I
:02:40. > :02:50.used to work in Newry and I would leave around 8am and he would be in
:02:50. > :02:52.
:02:52. > :03:00.the Front Street, arriving in his taxi. A newspaper, a pint of milk.
:03:00. > :03:06.To give to her? As any good son would do. Mel Irvine did not have a
:03:06. > :03:16.son and had few friends. She was known to be generous. We moved in
:03:16. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:24.11 years ago. Mel came with a house-warming present to welcome us
:03:24. > :03:30.to the estate. She was a nice, granny sort of neighbour. She is
:03:30. > :03:36.remembered fondly by another neighbour. In her heyday, always
:03:36. > :03:44.well dressed. Absolutely and totally devoted to her cats. She
:03:44. > :03:51.lived for those cats. I think they were her life. When Mel Irvine was
:03:51. > :03:56.born in 1925, Warrenpoint was a sleepy town. As a young woman, she
:03:56. > :04:02.moved England and got married. But her home town retained a special
:04:02. > :04:06.place in her heart. She persuaded her husband Arthur to leave London
:04:06. > :04:12.and retire to Warrenpoint. After his death, neighbours noticed she
:04:12. > :04:17.was going downhill. One day, she called to neighbours and claimed a
:04:17. > :04:24.stranger broke into her home and was hiding upstairs. She was
:04:24. > :04:29.nervous and agitated. We searched the house downstairs. We could not
:04:29. > :04:36.get into some of the rooms, she had locks on every door. Walking around
:04:36. > :04:44.with a big key, opening up everyone. I said there is nobody in a house.
:04:44. > :04:49.She said they were up in the attic, very nervous. Very afraid. We asked
:04:49. > :04:57.how they would get up into the attic. We asked to the person was.
:04:57. > :05:02.She named the name. She said he had a tunnel. A tunnel into the attic.
:05:02. > :05:08.She locked herself into the bedroom and the police had to kick the door
:05:08. > :05:14.in, which was upsetting for everybody, not least Mel. We were
:05:14. > :05:21.upset for have. The it was clear something was wrong? Absolutely.
:05:21. > :05:27.This would be going back five years. Before there McPolins Came on the
:05:28. > :05:32.scene. I thought they were doing her a good turn. I thought they
:05:32. > :05:36.were kind to her, but I did not know they were taking their money.
:05:36. > :05:42.Clearly she had neighbours concerned for her welfare, so how
:05:42. > :05:48.could it happen that she was comm from an -- out of her money? P Paul
:05:48. > :05:54.did not want to get involved, -- people. If they go to the police
:05:54. > :05:59.and they arrive, and there would be inquiries. Sadly, we have moved to
:05:59. > :06:07.a place where people live in isolation. We tend to mind our own
:06:07. > :06:13.business. We as neighbours feel as if we have let her down. She used
:06:13. > :06:17.to come out to talk to us and we were her friends. And for them to
:06:17. > :06:22.be rubbing her in plain sight of us and for us to do nothing about it,
:06:22. > :06:26.mainly because we did not know about it, maybe we could have done
:06:26. > :06:36.more ourselves. It is hard to know. When you think that somebody is
:06:36. > :06:39.
:06:39. > :06:43.looking after her, and they were doing the right thing... Mel is now
:06:43. > :06:48.being care, but her house is unchanged since the day she left
:06:48. > :06:53.last year. Her family said she was trusting and vulnerable, who had
:06:53. > :06:58.pride. They say they are shocked and appalled that anybody would
:06:58. > :07:05.take advantage of her. The pensioner lived modestly. She was
:07:05. > :07:10.not a big spender. By the time she was 85, she had �120,000 in her
:07:10. > :07:18.building society. One of the luxury she allowed herself was to take
:07:18. > :07:23.taxes. She began to rely on one driver, Seamus McPolin. Seamus
:07:23. > :07:28.McPolin was a driver in the town for 15 years and would have known
:07:28. > :07:37.Mel and her late husband in that time. Whenever her illness became
:07:38. > :07:43.apparent, both Colleen and Seamus McPolin recognised it as an
:07:43. > :07:50.opportunity to steal money. Spotlight has access to the police
:07:50. > :08:00.interview tapes. In his interviews, Seamus painted a picture of a close
:08:00. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:35.Mel did not keep in touch with her extended family. After her husband
:08:35. > :08:42.died, she often spent Christmas Day alone and her life was solitary.
:08:42. > :08:49.She did not seem to mind. The couple had known her since the late
:08:49. > :08:54.1990s and claimed to be attached to her. I think Seamus and Colleen
:08:54. > :09:00.McPolin became close to her in the sense that they became regular
:09:00. > :09:05.visitors to her home. I could not and would not say she formed at
:09:05. > :09:10.anything approaching an attachment to them. In the absence of anyone
:09:10. > :09:13.else, the couple became indispensable to Mel and took her
:09:13. > :09:18.shopping and to the hairdressers and arranged the jobs to be done
:09:18. > :09:22.around the house. Colleen McPolin did not work which meant she could
:09:22. > :09:29.spend plenty of time with the pensioner. He did you think that
:09:29. > :09:39.Coleen was? And we thought she was the carrot. No other reason she
:09:39. > :09:43.
:09:43. > :09:53.should call as regularly as she did? -- Colleen. They set about
:09:53. > :09:55.
:09:55. > :10:00.taking her money. This CCTV shows them queuing up to take money. Mel
:10:00. > :10:09.asks for a cheque for �50,000 made out in the name of Seamus McPolin.
:10:09. > :10:14.It takes minutes. The cheque represented a big slice of her life
:10:14. > :10:21.savings. They thought they had got away with what was in effect
:10:21. > :10:26.daylight robbery. But the couple were not aware that the branch
:10:26. > :10:32.manager was on to them. She had known Mel for years and knew how
:10:32. > :10:36.she usually came in a loan and never took out large sums of money.
:10:36. > :10:42.The area manager said that his branch managers are trained to spot
:10:42. > :10:49.suspicious activity, especially with older customers. My manager
:10:49. > :10:55.made a phone call to misses and she answered. Before she could talk,
:10:55. > :11:00.another lady took over the telephone and described what there
:11:00. > :11:05.cheque was made payable to and what it was for. We thought that Mrs
:11:05. > :11:11.Irvine had never talked about this and it compounded our suspicions.
:11:11. > :11:16.The explanation was that Mel was planning an extension to the House,
:11:16. > :11:20.a house that was too big for her. It was clearly his story the couple
:11:20. > :11:25.had concocted. And that was borne out in the story. They were
:11:25. > :11:30.rehearsed in what they would stay - - sake. That next day, the police
:11:30. > :11:37.paid a visit to the house. The front door was opened by Colleen
:11:37. > :11:41.McPolin. Mel's mental state had gone into such a decline she could
:11:41. > :11:46.not make a complaint. The police found an elderly woman who was
:11:46. > :11:54.confused. She did not know she had a building society account, or that
:11:54. > :11:58.it once contained her life savings. In her handbag -- Colleen's hand
:11:58. > :12:04.back they found the cheque and arrested her. Her husband was
:12:04. > :12:09.arrested later that day. Mel was not aware of what she was doing and
:12:09. > :12:19.did not seem to be aware of the transactions she was carrying out.
:12:19. > :12:23.Last month, the couple pleaded guilty to stealing from Mrs Irvine.
:12:23. > :12:28.But cases of this nature rarely make it to court. They are
:12:28. > :12:33.difficult to prove because they rely on the testimony of a usually
:12:33. > :12:36.confused victim. Researchers estimate in Northern Ireland are
:12:36. > :12:45.older people with dementia were swindled out of well over �2
:12:45. > :12:49.What we know about is the tip of the iceberg. A lot is going on that
:12:50. > :12:57.is not reported or not taken any further. If the building society
:12:57. > :13:02.manager hadn't raised any concerns, the theft of �50,000 would have
:13:02. > :13:06.gone unchallenged. Mel had no-one else keepingan eye on her financial
:13:06. > :13:16.interests. In his police interviews, Seamus tried to convince
:13:16. > :13:48.
:13:48. > :13:54.investigators that he was only Seamus said he never intended to
:13:54. > :13:59.keep the money, that the �50,000 would just sit in his bank account
:13:59. > :14:05.until Mel needed it. The police were totally unconvinced. These
:14:05. > :14:09.people are opportunistic thieves. It was their intention to take all
:14:09. > :14:14.of her money. They were going to clean her out entirely? Leave her
:14:14. > :14:18.penniless. This was the second advice thait week that Mel and the
:14:18. > :14:26.McPolins' had made to the building society to withdraw thousands of
:14:26. > :14:33.pounds of her money. This is Seamus McPolin with Mel. He tells the
:14:33. > :14:38.cashie that Mel has lost her ATM card and needed a new one. Staff
:14:38. > :14:43.became suspicious as she usually only used her bank book to withdraw
:14:43. > :14:47.money over the counter. No. No. She didn't use the ATM machine.
:14:47. > :14:52.didn't use the ATM machine herself at all? Not to our knowledge. We
:14:52. > :14:57.tried to show her how. She may have used it internally here, but, you
:14:57. > :15:00.know, it wouldn't have been a regular feature. Seamus also gets
:15:00. > :15:05.Mel to transfer �5,000 from her savings account to her current
:15:05. > :15:12.account. When staff advise Mel that she will be losing interest, Seamus
:15:12. > :15:16.insists, claiming that she needs �5,000 for household bills.
:15:16. > :15:20.Spotlight has learnt that there had already been substantial amounts of
:15:20. > :15:27.money disappearing from Mel's current account throughout 2008. In
:15:27. > :15:33.the month of May �1,450 was taken out. In June a further �1,600 and
:15:33. > :15:37.in August �1,400. Police are convinced the McPolins were
:15:37. > :15:42.draining this current account. wasn't a lady who was spending
:15:42. > :15:49.large amounts of cash that we could see. I would suspect that that
:15:49. > :15:54.money was going traigt to the -- straight to the McPolins. Women
:15:54. > :16:01.over 81 years of age Are the most common victims of financial abuse.
:16:01. > :16:04.In that sense, they had found the ideal candidate in Mel Irvine in
:16:04. > :16:08.her mid-80's, childless, widowed, increasingly isolated befriending
:16:08. > :16:14.her and gaining her confidence was the first step along the road to
:16:14. > :16:22.stealing her entire life savings? It sounds like grooming? Grooming
:16:22. > :16:27.is exactly how we would describe this. They took over Mel's life.
:16:27. > :16:32.They moved in, they ensured she was dressed. She looked respectable.
:16:32. > :16:39.Her house was tidy. Her courtans were open. Her gardens were well
:16:39. > :16:44.kept. They were with her every time she went out through the door.
:16:44. > :16:47.the outside world, Mel had two good friends, but the reality was very
:16:47. > :16:54.different. Most of the case that is we would come across actually
:16:54. > :16:59.happen within families. It's quite a sinister almost. God love her,
:16:59. > :17:03.she wasn't aware of the money going. They betrayed her trust and that is
:17:03. > :17:06.every bit as much to blame as to taking her money. To get a
:17:06. > :17:12.prosecution, the police had to prove that Mel was incapable of
:17:12. > :17:22.looking after her finances and that they had exploited this. In his
:17:22. > :17:30.
:17:30. > :17:34.police interviews, Seamus played However, when officers questioned
:17:34. > :17:39.Colleen, she contradicted her husband. Over the three swer
:17:39. > :17:49.interviews she gave police, she changed her opinion on whether Mel
:17:49. > :18:15.
:18:15. > :18:18.They claimed to be her children, but did they treat her like a
:18:18. > :18:23.mother? If these people were the children that Mel never had, you
:18:23. > :18:26.would expect your children to take care of you. These people ought to
:18:26. > :18:30.have brought this condition to the attention of medical professionals
:18:30. > :18:35.who could have helped her. They didn't do that. Anywhere else in
:18:35. > :18:37.the UK, the McPolins' could have been prosecuted for failing to
:18:37. > :18:43.bring Mel's condition to the attention of the authorities. Not
:18:43. > :18:46.in Northern Ireland, there is no specific duty to inform. When the
:18:46. > :18:49.McPolins' didn't act, Spotlight has learnt there had been attempts to
:18:49. > :18:55.examine what might have been happening to her mind. At one stage
:18:55. > :18:57.she was assessed by a psychiatrist after a friend reported concerns to
:18:57. > :19:03.Mel's doctor. She found to be suffering from considerable
:19:03. > :19:06.confusion and forgetfulness, but she refused to undergo a CT scan
:19:07. > :19:11.and didn't attend the hospital appointments that had been made for
:19:11. > :19:15.her. The essence of the problem is, how can someone in the midst of
:19:15. > :19:19.mental decline be expected to make major decision abouts how and if
:19:19. > :19:23.they should be treated? It's a question between protecting them
:19:23. > :19:26.and yet allowing them to make progress. Allowing someone fo have
:19:26. > :19:31.privacy and live in their own home and were text them from people who
:19:31. > :19:35.will want to undermine them in society. I think, I do believe it's
:19:35. > :19:39.a bigger problem than we appreciate at the moment. We are getting a
:19:39. > :19:44.much older population coming on who will have more money than perhaps
:19:44. > :19:48.they did years ago. By the time Mel was medically assessed, in the
:19:48. > :19:53.day's after the McPolins' arrest, her confusion and dementia were so
:19:53. > :19:56.advanced that she lacked any ability to manage her finances. Her
:19:56. > :20:00.bank accounts were frozen and her solicitor was given official
:20:00. > :20:04.control control of her affairs. Mel was also given round-the-clock
:20:04. > :20:09.support so that she could continue to live at home. Stephen Compton
:20:09. > :20:15.never treated Mel, but he has seen a psychiatric report on her, which
:20:15. > :20:21.charted a steady deterioration in her mind as a result of Alzheimer's.
:20:21. > :20:25.She can't do simple arithmetic. You would expect someone of that
:20:25. > :20:28.generation to be able to count money easily. She can't handle or
:20:28. > :20:34.even identify money. Anyone who would ask someone with these
:20:34. > :20:44.problems to write a cheque, I think, really, you would have to query the
:20:44. > :20:44.
:20:45. > :20:53.motive for it -- query the motive for it. As a woman with dementia,
:20:53. > :20:58.Mel would not have known that the McPolin's attention wasn't genuine.
:20:58. > :21:03.Mel, from the people that we have spoken, to was a very as tuet lady.
:21:03. > :21:09.There is no way that they could have taken advantage of her had she
:21:09. > :21:16.not been ill. I think people with dementia have vulnerabilites about
:21:16. > :21:21.the fact that they do get confused very easily. They may forget what
:21:21. > :21:28.is happening because memory is affected on most cases of dementia.
:21:28. > :21:34.So it does make it easier to dupe somebody. Last year, almost one
:21:34. > :21:39.person in eight with dementia here was conned out of money or property.
:21:39. > :21:44.By its nature deception is an insidious crime that can be hard to
:21:44. > :21:48.spot and often goes unreported. Financial abuse in particular is
:21:48. > :21:52.really a silent epidemic in the UK. We see all sorts of evidence like
:21:52. > :21:59.this about people hiding people from the authorities in order to
:21:59. > :22:03.take money from them or get their house signed over. Stephen Compton
:22:03. > :22:08.is frustrated by the level of support and protection that people
:22:08. > :22:13.with dementia get here. He believes there has been failure to put
:22:13. > :22:16.proper legislation in place in NI. Do you think the law as it stands
:22:16. > :22:20.in Northern Ireland currently protects people as vulnerable as
:22:20. > :22:28.Mel? There is more sanction on people who abuse animals than there
:22:28. > :22:34.is on people who abuse older people. It's time that was changed. We need
:22:34. > :22:37.capacity legislation, now. Local MLA Jim Wells concedes there is
:22:37. > :22:42.inadequate protection here for those who don't have the capacity
:22:42. > :22:45.to look after themselves, but warns it will be some time before such
:22:45. > :22:48.legislation will be introduced. the absence of legislation there is
:22:49. > :22:54.not a lot that can be done. We are working on it. Really you are
:22:54. > :22:59.talking at least three years before this issue is resolved. His party
:22:59. > :23:02.colleague, Nigel Dodds, is trying to bring in extra protection for
:23:02. > :23:07.the elderly in the House of Commons. His Bill raises awareness of all
:23:07. > :23:10.types of elder abuse, but it is at an early stage. The police
:23:11. > :23:15.investigation also uncovered that ten months before their arrest,
:23:15. > :23:24.Colleen McPolin had taken Mel into the Nationwide and had withdrawn a
:23:24. > :23:30.cheque for �46,000 Seamus McPolin's name. Why hadn't Mel's bank
:23:30. > :23:34.questioned that withdrawal? Why did you give the cheque for �46,000?
:23:34. > :23:39.The lady signed for. It we checked with her several times. You do what
:23:39. > :23:42.you are instructed. That was the first occasion. You do what you're
:23:42. > :23:47.instructed. The McPolins' took Mel's money and told no-one about
:23:47. > :23:49.it. They used to pay off their �26,000 mortgage and to ren nait
:23:49. > :23:53.their conservatory. On that occasion they claimed the money was
:23:53. > :24:02.a generous gift from Mel, a gift they managed to keep secret until
:24:02. > :24:12.their arrest ten months later. When questioned, Seamus couldn't see the
:24:12. > :24:41.
:24:41. > :24:44.harm in concealing the gift: Do you think it could have been a gift
:24:44. > :24:50.from Mel? No. Under no circumstances would I believe that.
:24:50. > :24:55.It was very clear to us that Mel was incapable of making those sorts
:24:55. > :25:01.of decisions. We asked Seamus and Colleen to take part in this
:25:01. > :25:06.programme and to clarify where Mel's missing ATM money went. They
:25:06. > :25:10.declined. When I spoke to Mrs McPolin at her home she insisted
:25:10. > :25:15.that Mel is still mentally alert even though the elderly woman is
:25:15. > :25:21.now in care and has been deemed incapable of looking after herself.
:25:21. > :25:26.When they eventually pleaded guilty to theft, the McPolin's re-
:25:26. > :25:31.mortgaged their house to pay back the �46,000 to Mel. The judge took
:25:31. > :25:35.this into account and they avoided jail, receiving a suspended
:25:35. > :25:45.sentence of three years. Have you ever seen a crime as brazen as
:25:45. > :25:45.
:25:46. > :25:51.this? The answer is no. This is very, very unique. Some of Mel's
:25:51. > :25:57.neighbours and a local MLA believe the sentence should have been
:25:57. > :26:01.harsher to deter others? You would of given them prison sentences?
:26:01. > :26:08.definitely. What is the difference of them robbing a bank? You don't
:26:08. > :26:14.see many bank robbers getting off free. If it was my mother, I
:26:14. > :26:22.wouldn't be happy.. The community are absolutely appalled, outraged
:26:22. > :26:25.at the level of the suspended sentence. People think it's
:26:25. > :26:30.inadequate. They paid back the money. They admitted their guilt.
:26:30. > :26:37.Surely, they have suffered enough? They had no intention of owning up.
:26:37. > :26:43.If it wasn't for the vidge lens of a Nationwide official this crime
:26:43. > :26:53.wouldn't of been detect and they would of got away with �90,000.
:26:53. > :27:00.
:27:00. > :27:06.bank accounts were frozen and her solicitor was given official right
:27:06. > :27:14.of her affairs. It's a proper and balanced decision. Mel can never
:27:14. > :27:19.get back the chance to slow down the progress of her illness. The
:27:19. > :27:25.police suggest that the polyethelene were sheltering her
:27:25. > :27:31.from public view, keeping her away from medics and naebs neighbours.
:27:31. > :27:35.If they had done something about her condition, could she have been
:27:35. > :27:38.helped? That is quite possible. She could of had treatment which could
:27:38. > :27:43.have prevented her getting worse. Her condition and situation could
:27:43. > :27:48.have been improved on. Those who witness Mel's decline are relieved
:27:48. > :27:54.that she is now being looked after by professionals with her best
:27:54. > :27:58.interests at heart. It's sad. She lived there for so long There is
:27:58. > :28:03.one saving grace from all of this, she is now in a secure home. She's
:28:03. > :28:08.being fed. She has a roof over her head. She is getting her medication.
:28:08. > :28:11.To the best of my knowledge, she's doing well. For that I'm glad.
:28:11. > :28:14.the absence of meaningful legislation at Stormont, people