A callous father-of-three tricked an elderly man into handing over £1,000 and then tried to get another €4,000 from him after driving him to two banks – before abandoning him.

Danny-Lee Andrews failed in his second attempt as the branches were closed, so he left the confused pensioner in a town centre miles from his home in Sittingbourne during the third Covid lockdown.

Andrews drove the man, who was in his 80s, to a bank in Sittingbourne and then another in Chatham to try and withdraw the cash. When that did not work, he also tried to get money from a pawnbrokers and abandoned his victim after ending up empty handed.

The 30-year-old appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday, August 24, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation after duping the pensioner over two days in January 2021. He was sentenced at the same court the next morning.

The court heard the pensioner, Harry Claridge, who died in October last year, had received a phone call from a man called "Richard" who claimed to be from the council advising him he would have to pay for work being done outside his home, but would later be reimbursed.

Andrews, of Monarch Close, Maidstone, had contacted Mr Claridge on January 7 and then again on January 9 after successfully making him hand over £1,000 on the first occasion.

He or someone else had called the victim and instructed him to go and get the cash, which he did, and Andrews later collected it from his Sittingbourne home.

But just two days later Mr Claridge was contacted again and this time was driven to Sittingbourne town centre by Andrews in a Toyota Yaris which was owned by the mother of his children.

Sapna Devi prosecuting told the court Mr Claridge got into the vehicle and was driven to a bank in Sittingbourne to withdraw the €4,000, but it was closed. She said he was then driven to another bank in Chatham, which was also closed.

Ms Devi added: "The bank was closed and then Mr Claridge was then taken to a pawnbrokers to try and get the Euros."

However, staff at the shop became suspicious and failed to authorise the transaction and the confused pensioner left the shop as Andrews waited outside.

After Andrews realised there was no cash, he callously left Mr Claridge in the town, despite the pensioner trying to follow him to keep up with him to get back home.

Mr Claridge was found near a taxi rank in a confused state and was assisted by others. The court heard the pair had been caught on CCTV walking around the town after police began investigating the crimes.

Officers identified the car used and went to the home of the owner, who turned out to be the mother of Andrews' children.

He was recognised by officers at the address from the CCTV images and arrested and charged.

Ms Devi also read out a statement from Nadine Wakeling, the daughter of Mr Claridge, who said after the incident her father had called her saying the police had been round and that he was in shock at what had happened.

Mrs Wakeling said: "He was worried about it and anxious and used to always be in a jolly mood, but had mood swings and went downhill afterwards and had memory problems.

"He could never accept what happened to him and it upset me and made his health deteriorate faster.

"I feel the incident broke my father."

"He could never accept what happened to him and it upset me and made his health deteriorate faster..."

The court also heard Mr Claridge was later diagnosed with early stage dementia and had possibly been suffering the affects of that condition when he was duped.

Emin Kandola defending said her client had been out of trouble since 2013 apart from driving matter and that he really regrets what he had done saying it had ruined his life and said he was terrified of going to prison.

She added: "It showed a spectacular lack of judgement and it was desperate attempt in the short term to make money."

Jailing Andrews for two years, Recorder Edward Butler said: "You abandoned him in Chatham during the third Covid lockdown and there were fewer people in the town centre to help him.

"The victim was vulnerable and you put him under pressure in his confused state and you specifically selected him for that reason.

"It was repeated targeting of the victim and it was callous and cruel offending. It was such an affront to decency."