Thief admits stealing more than £100,000 from war hero mother-in law who was dying from dementia

Ian Downs, 66, admitted pocketing £95,000 from Mary Garvey before claiming a further £20,000 after her death in May 2013 when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court.

Downs, of Saint Bedes, East Boldon, will be sentenced by a judge later this month.Mrs Garvey had served in the British Army Catering Corps during the Second World War, where she met her soldier husband Anthony.During her time in the military she travelled across Europe and was even credited with preventing the explosion of a bomb on an allied train.Mary was sadly left widowed when Anthony died aged just 59 in 1977 and later became reliant on her family for support as she suffered from dementia. Downs took control of her financial matters but secretly made a number of small payments into his own accounts.He gave Mary, who lived in sheltered accommodation in Benton, money to spend each week and bought her groceries and clothing.When the family asked for her to be moved into a care home set up especially for war veterans, they were told by Downs that it was not a good idea.In fact, he had stolen £95,000 before pocketing a further £19,697 in life insurance policies after she passed away aged 94 in May, 2013.The deceit – which occurred over eight years – came to light months after Mary’s death when her daughter, and Downs' sister-in-law, Gwenda and granddaughter Angela asked about any inheritance.Downs told them he would let them know but months went by without any word and eventually Angela confronted him and demanded to see copies of the accounts.When he failed to present the documents she contacted detectives at Northumbria Police who then uncovered the huge fraud.Angela said her war-hero gran 'deserved a life of luxury' but instead had been left without a penny to her name: "This case was never about the money. It was about the fact a woman who dedicated her life to her country was left to die in poverty.