Neighbour stole grandmother’s bank cards and drained funds after discovering her dead body
A man who discovered the body of an acquaintance stole her bank cards and withdrew all her money.
Jacqui Potter, 56, died at her home in Radiant Road, off Scraptoft Lane in Thurncourt, Leicester, on Monday, July 1.
Gabrial Strzeszwksi let himself into her property. Two dogs were in the house with her and Strzeszwksi left with them and two bank cards he had taken from her handbag.
Strzeszwksi has been jailed for 23 months at Leicester Crown Court.
Leicester Crown Court heard Strzeszwski, who is also known by the name Carl Sanders, never reported Potter’s death and waited for her benefits to go into her account before withdrawing as much money as he could, £720 in total, in the days after.
The 48-year-old of nearby Flamborough Road was arrested on suspicion of her murder after CCTV from the area showed him leaving the property with the dogs and later withdrawing cash from a cash machine.
However, a post-mortem examination later concluded Potter had died from an opiate overdose.
Strzeszwksi later pleaded guilty to fraud, theft and preventing a lawful burial.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
RAF Scampton: Council leaders call for urgent talks after Labour axes migrant planFraudster steals hundreds from ‘vulnerable’ woman after charging her for fake roof repairsCannabis grower who hid in attic during police raid jailed
Prosecutor Andrew Jordan told the court: “We do not know whether the removal of the dogs was an act of mercy or a cynical ploy to delay the discovery of the body. On a number of occasions on the first, second and third of July he checked the balance on one of her cards and he withdrew the money on July 3 – the day the benefits arrived.”
Jordan said CCTV with audio had captured Strzeszwski announcing to his friends on Wednesday, July 3 that the benefits had arrived in Potter’s account, telling them: “It came through.” Jordan said: “He’s obviously celebrating the improvement in the balance.”
The court heard a statement from Potter’s son, Christopher, who described his mother’s difficulties in recent years and how the family had suffered from learning of how her body was treated. He said: “After the death of her partner seven years ago Jacqui struggled with feelings of vulnerability and loneliness.”
He also hit out at drug users in the area who “took advantage” of his mother, claiming “they were not her friends”.
Steven Gosnell, mitigating, said: “The main mitigation here is plainly his [guilty] plea – there’s no justification to explain what he did. He found the body and what he did in taking the cards and using them was a deplorable act and that is something he will have to live with.”
Recorder Sacha Ackland sentenced Strzeszwksi not just for the three offences relating to Potter but also for breaching a suspended prison sentence from August 2023.
She said: “You had known Jacqui Potter for a number of years. You went to Jacqui’s home and found her deceased in her bedroom. Instead of calling for help you stole two of her bank cards, making withdrawals to the sum of £720.
“The condition of the body had deteriorated and the reason you failed to inform anyone was selfish and cruel, denying the family of the opportunity to say goodbye to her in a decent manner.”