A CRUEL con woman from Northfield who duped a vulnerable woman out of almost £2,000 has been jailed for six years.
Levi Galeford befriended the 66-year-old on the car-park of Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital on May 11 where she talked her into handing over £10.
It started a prolonged campaign of emotional blackmail against the pensioner from West Heath who Galeford went on to swindle out of almost £1,790 in cash with a series of unfounded sob stories.
The 24-year-old, from Browning Tower in Overbury Road, orchestrated another ‘chance’ meeting at the hospital the following day.
After striking up a conversation, she claimed she was in a violent relationship and needed cash to break free. Her lies persuaded her victim to part with £320 and exchange phone numbers.
Over the next few weeks Galeford arranged to meet her victim on six more times when she pocketed hundreds of pounds each time having said she could not afford the deposit on a new flat.
West Midlands Police detectives secured CCTV showing cruel Galeford chaperoning the victim to a building society on June 7 when the pensioner handed over £500.
The footage was released as part of a public appeal to identify the fraudster and led to residents getting in touch with crucial information and naming Galeford as the culprit.
She was arrested on September 24 and then admitted to fraud by false representation, a distraction burglary on an 81-year-old woman, another count of fraud, robbery and attempted robbery.
It was at Birmingham Crown Court on November 15 when she was jailed for six years.
Det Con Gareth Beard, who investigated the incidents, said: “There was no truth to Galeford’s emotional stories, they were invented with the sole purpose of tricking money out of this lady.
“She took advantage of the woman’s vulnerabilities and good nature.
“She pretty much used her as a cash machine whenever she wanted money.”
He added the appeal yielded a fantastic response and thanked everyone who supplied information.
“We’ve ensured Galeford has been taken away from society for several years and no longer poses a danger.”
Unemployed Galeford also admitted a late night burglary on September 11 at the Northfield home of an 81-year-old woman.
She also posed again as a domestic abuse victim when she asked for change for a bus ride but when the pensioner’s back was turned swiped her purse from the hallway and used bank cards six times in the space of 15 minutes to buy cigarettes, petrol and food.
She also admitted grabbing £50 in cash from a cashier’s till at Boots in Middlemore Road, West Heath, on September 14, and trying to snatch a 62-year-old woman’s handbag in Co-Op in Turves Green, Northfield, the following day.
