Lawyer stole from widow

EXCLUSIVE by John Scott

A scheming solicitor branded The Vulture swindled £90,000 from the blind widow of a millionaire Black Country industrialist, the Express & Star can reveal.

Veronica Wilkinson spent thousands on plastic surgery, designer clothes, pets and a £37,000 Audi within days of the death of 86-year-old Les Carrier.

Mr Carrier, former chairman of Wednesbury-based steel firm FH Lloyds, lived with his wife Doris, known as Dot, for most of their married life in Codsall.

Wilkinson was head of the wills and probate department at the Codsall office of law firm Dunham, Brindley and Linn - now DBL Talbots - when she forged a document to give her power of attorney over Mrs Carrier's financial affairs.

In less than two months, the debt-ridden lawyer plundered £72,086 from the 90-year-old's Lloyds TSB bank account and £21,150 from her Hinckley Building Society account.

The 50-year-old, of Priory Road, Stone, immediately swapped her old saloon for a silver Audi A3 Avant. She tried to cover her tracks by telling colleagues the car was a gift from an American boyfriend before going on to spend a further £6,000 on a pedigree teacup chihuahua.

The mother of two also spent thousands more on jewellery, a pedigree cat and private dental work. She was caught after it was discovered she had forged a document to access her victim's accounts. The day after her arrest, she spent £5,150 on cosmetic surgery.

Wilkinson, who wed after the crime was uncovered and appeared in court under her married name of Hyland, has admitted 16 charges of theft and forgery, which include stealing £250 from a Bilbrook widow in her 80s.

She is on bail awaiting sentence at Stafford Crown Court on Friday.