String 'em up by the balls

[Mrs Cuchillo]

Just been to see a lady I know. She is in her 80's and partially sighted. On Saturday morning, two men came to her door posing as "water company" employees. They talked their way inside, and whilst one was in the kitchen "turning off her stop cock" the other was upstairs turning her bedroom upside down. Got away with her purse.

Yes, I know she was incredibly stupid to let them in, especially as she has had intuders twice before, but that doesn't make it alright. She was a very nervous lady before - now she jumps at any unusual sound.

It just makes me SO INCREDIBLY ANGRY!!!

[small] Sorry, just wanted to let off steam! [/small]

[simpo two]

Old people seem to develop fears, some justified, some not. Whilst she may have had a concerns about letting in strangers, it must have been over-ridden by fear of water pouring through her roof.

If they live alone, there's not much you can do, I think - except install CCTV...?

[wizzpig]

I know how you feel. I used to deliver papers (many years ago) before I went to school and the old lady down the end of the lane, round the corner from where I lived, had the exact same thing happen to her.

Such a lovely kind old lady. Would have been proud to have her as my Grandma. Always, without fail, greeted me each morning to receive her paper and always with a smile.

How anyone could take advantage of such a frail trusting soul is completely beyond my comprehension. Makes me mad, even to this day thinking about it.

I do hope that she is ok and it doesn’t prey on her.

[Mrs Cuchillo]

They told her that they had come to dig up the road/pavement outside her house - it has had yellow markings for a while - and that they needed to turn her water off before they could start. WHY she thought they were going to start digging the road up on a Bank Holiday weekend I can't fathom. She seemed more worried about the nine pages of questions the police asked her - some of which seemed to be to see how "with it" she was mentally.

There's not a lot I can do for her - I visit her for a professional reason and can't really get involved at that level. She does have family locally, so it's really up to them to sort her out. That sounds like I'm washing my hands of her and don't care - I do - but I can't sort out everyone's life for them - I can't cope with my own most days!

[yertis]

Mrs Cuchillo said:

WHY she thought they were going to start digging the road up on a Bank Holiday weekend I can't fathom.

Such things do happen - we once had the water board start digging up most of our street on Christmas night - they were well supplied with brandy and pie despite the racket.

[simpo two]

Something else to watch out for is that the elderly can accumulate piles of cash. My mother is 83 and has had 3 strokes so is not entirely 'with it'. She thought she was running out of money but on checking I found over £1,000 in cash stowed neatly in various sections of her handbag!!! That went off to the bank PDQ, and I now make sure she never has more than £100 in the house. That way, if the worst happens, at least she can't lose much.

[Mrs Cuchillo]

Tell me about the "piles of cash" situation. My mother recently helped clear out a house for another old lady who was on all the benefits going - they found a platic bag with £12,000 cash stuffed in her knicker drawer!