Video shows moment cleaner steals cash from 92-year-old woman’s purse

As previously reported, Alison Lavell has been locked up over the cruel breach of trust in the victim’s own Warrington home.

Lavell was sentenced after pleading guilty to two charges of theft, with the particulars of each count she was convicted on stating that the amount stolen was £20 each, so £40 in total.

The elderly pensioner’s family has spoken to the Warrington Guardian, welcoming the sentence handed down by the courts and praising the assistance of the police.

Her family has also released video footage showing Lavell, who was considered a friend, helping herself to the victim’s savings.

Chris Hunt, the victim’s son, said: “Due to her old age and deteriorating health, my mum, Mavis Hunt, needed some help cleaning her home.

“Alison was recommended to us by a family friend. She came across as very nice and mum felt happy to invite her into her home to help with the cleaning.

“Mum soon began to regard Alison as not just a cleaner, but also as a friend.”

Chris said his mum used to prefer to pay for most things in cash – something she no longer feels comfortable doing.

In 2021, Mavis’ family realised that more than £350 had gone missing in one go, with a further £600 to £800 disappearing on a later occasion.

The housebound victim had started with some new carers around that time, and it was wrongly suspected that they were the likely culprits, leading to them being dismissed.

However, money continued to go missing.

“We should have realised then that it was Alison, but as she was regarded as a friend, we would make all kinds of excuses as to where the money had gone,” Chris continued.

Cameras set up in Mavis' home caught Lavell red-handed

“We just did not want to believe it was her.

“We even wondered if mum had got confused and paid out too much to someone, or had accidently thrown the money away.

“I feel really bad that I did not face up to the obvious sooner.

“I just did not want to accuse someone who mum really liked and thought of as a friend, so you try to look for all kinds of other – increasingly silly – reasons as to where the money may have gone.”

By December 2023, when almost £200 had been taken from the ‘very frail and vulnerable’ pensioner, her family firmly turned their focus to Lavell.

Chris set up a covert camera in her home and put four £10 notes in her purse. The very next time the 59-year-old visited Mavis’ home on January 2 this year, the camera filmed her taking £20 from the purse, which had been hidden behind a cushion.

To prove this was not a one off, the family said nothing, topped the purse back up to £40 and installed a second camera to capture a different angle.

The next visit by Lavell was a week later on the January 9, with exactly the same occurring – and to add insult to injury, the camera captured her sitting on her phone for the vast majority of the two hours she was paid for an hour, cleaning for only 10 to 15 minutes.

“Mum was really very upset when she found out that the person she thought of as a friend had been the one taking all her money,” Chris explained.

“Mum now finds trusting people difficult. She feels betrayed and lets down. She even said that she felt like she had been groomed by Alison's friendly and personable demeanour.

“To rub salt in the wound, Alison denied any wrongdoing, right up to a few minutes before the trial at Liverpool Crown Court was due to start, only changing her plea when faced with the enhanced videos showing it was cash that she had taken.

“Mum had to go through all the stress of expecting to give evidence that morning, and a police officer had to spend half a day waiting with her at her home to help, when he could otherwise have been free to deal with other police work

Alison Lavell was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

“Alison has caused great deal of upset to a frail, elderly, 92-year-old pensioner, wasted the court’s time and wasted the police’s time.”

“She is a truly horrible, selfish and cruel individual who should hang her head in shame for what she has done,” Chris added.

“I had fully prepared myself for her getting a suspended sentence, or even less, so I was surprised and delighted to hear that justice really has been done in this case.

“This has given me faith in the justice system. What she did to a frail old woman was despicable.

“Finally, she has got what she deserves, which will help enormously in bringing closure for my mum and the rest of the family.

"Hopefully, this will also help protect any other potential victims from her too.

“I would like to thank the courts, the police and the witness care team for all their hard work. It is greatly appreciated by myself, my mother and the rest of the family.”

Lavell, who sobbed as she made her way to the cells at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting two counts of theft, was jailed for nine months.

It was heard that there was ‘no explanation’ as to why the grandmother-of-four took the money, as she ‘did not need it’.

Judge David Swinnerton described Lavell’s actions as ‘sheer greed’.