Bogus carer robs Dobbyhorse Vera
Reporter: by MARINA BERRY
Date published: 04 June 2009
A CALLOUS conwoman brazenly walked into the home of stalwart fund-raiser Vera Smith and pretended to be her carer before stealing nearly £300 of charity cash.
The trickster, who was wearing a nurse’s uniform, took Vera’s purse after the 76-year-old, who is battling cancer, agreed to sponsor her — for Cancer Research.
Vera has been left afraid to sleep after the attack — described as “grossly shameful” by police.
Known to thousands of children as Dobbyhorse Vera, she ran the roundabout on Tommyfield market for years.
Vera said: “Now when I’m in bed I keep waking up and listening for noises. It’s made me nervous.”
Vera was nicknamed “The Angel of Tommyfield” when she was fitted with a steel halo during a lifesaving operation after she broke her neck in a fall in 2001.
In 2007, she was crowned Woman of Oldham for her fund-raising work for a raft of good causes including Dr Kershaw’s Hospice.
A carer from the Oldham firm Quality Care helps Vera to get up in the mornings.
“I have an arrangement for my sister, who lives next door, to let her in the back door so she can come up and help me out of bed,” added Vera.
“On Monday, this person came at 8.40am and told my sister she was my carer. She came into my bedroom and I said ‘you’re early,’ but she was very cool and just made an excuse. I had never seen her before but it’s not the first time they have sent someone different without telling me.”
The woman stole Vera’s purse, which contained money for Dr Kershaw’s.
“The woman had a uniform on but I should have known, particularly when she told me to get washed myself, which was what she was there to help me with. I suppose I was naive,” added Vera.
The woman is described as white, between 5ft 7in and 5ft 9in tall, of large build with mousey blonde hair and wore a navy blue nurse’s top.
Detective Inspector David Massey said: “The offender has dressed up as a nurse and deliberately tricked her way into an elderly woman’s home under the pretence of being there to help.
“Her actions were grossly shameful and I would urge other residents not to let anyone into their home unless they have valid photo identification.”
The incident is a second blow to Dr Kershaw’s Hospice and its tireless fund-raisers. Appeals manager Brian Hurst is still off work seven weeks after his elbow was smashed by a mugger who knocked him to the ground and robbed him of charity takings.
