Former Bristol care home worker jailed for stealing from resident
Nick Penevski was deputy manager of a care home in Hengrove when he stole £40,000
A former deputy manager of a Bristol care home has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after admitting stealing more than £40,000 from an elderly resident, who has since passed away.
Nick Penevski (35), who lives in Hengrove but is originally from Macedonia, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court this afternoon (24th July) after pleading guilty to fraud.
Passing sentence, the judge described his actions as "despicable".
The story
During proceedings in court we heard how Penevski was working at Rosedale House care home in Hengrove in 2022, when he started using an 82-year-old resident's bank card to buy items including TV's and sunglasses, while also sending money from the resident's account to his family in Macedonia.
In all we heard £40,000 was withdrawn by Penevski between February and December 2022, before the card was blocked by the bank for unusual activity.
Once the withdrawals became clear, Penevski claimed the victim had given permission for the withdrawals and even produced a letter, allegedly signed by the victim, which said so.
However, speaking during sentencing the prosecution barrister said the victim had severely impaired eyesight and would not have been able to read what he was signing.
Appearing at Bristol Magistrates Court in May of this year, Penevski pleaded not guilty, before admitting fraud at a later hearing.
Passing sentence, the judge said that in his view, this was a "very, very mean offence".
"You prayed upon a grossly vulnerable man who was in his 80s and coming to the end of his life," he said.
He called Penevski's actions a "gross abuse" of a position of trust and responsibility, adding that he deliberately targeted a person whom he knew to be vulnerable.
In a statement a spokesperson for Rosedale House said: "Rosedale House are deeply saddened about the actions of a single individual ex-employee and would like to thank the police for their diligent efforts, once we informed them of our concerns in this case.
"We have fully co-operated with the authorities throughout this matter, we have reviewed all our policies and procedures to ensure this does not happen again."