A man who befriended an elderly pensioner and then stole cash he had put aside for his funeral has been jailed for 12 months.

Former Red Cross volunteer Glenn Woolterton had been helping 81-year-old Albert Adams with his affairs when he took £12,000 from him, including £1,700 kept in an envelope to pay for his funeral.

Judge Jeremy Carey told Woolterton, who lived in Lower Rainham Road, Rainham, at the time of the offences: “You have lost your good name and standing in the community.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard the father-of-two met Mr Adams, from Brompton, in 2002 when he donated some furniture to the Red Cross. They became friends and Woolterton visited him regularly, helping him with shopping and collecting his pension.

Defending solicitor Simon Geoffrey said Woolterton had taken advantage of an elderly and vulnerable victim with “an appalling piece of dishonesty” at a time when his life was in a state of turmoil.

Woolterton admitted stealing the money.

Full story in Friday's print edition of the Medway Messenger