Court increases sentence for home care worker who stole from elderly clients

Yle reports that the Turku Court of Appeal has increased a home care worker’s sentence to three years in prison after he stole cash and valuables worth at least 46,000 euros from elderly people in Masku and Nousiainen.

The man was convicted of nine aggravated thefts, four thefts, two attempted aggravated thefts, payment instrument fraud, a drug use offence, petty theft and a firearms offence. The rest of the lower court’s judgment was left unchanged.

The thefts took place between 2020 and 2022. The victims were aged between 77 and 90. The man had worked as a home care worker for the Akseli joint municipal authority for basic security and had access to keys to the victims’ homes.

The court found that he entered the homes when he knew the residents were away and took cash and other property. The crimes were committed with another person, which the court said demonstrated particular planning.

The court described the conduct as repeated and deliberate. It said the theft offences warranted a harsher sentence because the aggravated thefts, attempted aggravated thefts and thefts were mainly committed between January and March 2021, and the method used was particularly harmful. The value of the stolen property alone was therefore not sufficient to determine the sentence.

The defendant had asked the Court of Appeal to dismiss several charges and reduce the sentence. The prosecutor had sought a harsher punishment.

The judgment can still be appealed to the Supreme Court, subject to leave to appeal.