Editorial: Unkindest breach of one's trust

There is no worse crime than the one that targets the innocent and vulnerable.

There is something so unjust and heartbreaking about a child or someone who can't take care of themselves being abused or exploited. Often the criminal is someone close to the victim and callously and cruelly abuses that position of trust.

In yesterday's editorial, I wrote about the young father who broke his daughter's legs before she was even four months old. In today's paper, we have a story about a caregiver who stole more than $35,000 from the widow she was looking after. Kay Frances Coull, 64, of Napier, helped the victim do her shopping and also had access to the woman's bank card and PIN to help her withdraw money when the widow for whom she was a live-in caregiver needed it.

But according to a police summary, from June 20 last year to June 5 this year Coull made 88 withdrawals which were not authorised. It seems that Coull, who had no previous convictions, had a gambling problem and the temptation to take the easy money was too great.

This is an appalling breach of trust. The old woman probably was still coming to terms with living without her husband and was genuinely in need of someone to help her and care for her.

Coull obviously did a great job in convincing the woman's family that she could be trusted, because this was not some casual care. She was given access to everything. When you give your bank card and PIN to someone, it means that you trust them implicitly. That is what makes it so bad. When a hoodlum watches a little old lady key in her pin at an ATM and then makes off with her card, there is no relationship between thief and victim. It is painful, but there is no abuse of trust. The widow probably welcomed Coull into her home and more than likely treated her like a daughter, only for Coull to betray her in the most despicable way.

Sure Coull had a gambling habit, but there is a huge difference between blowing all your own money on the pokies and actually stealing someone else's hard-earned money. What makes this crime even worse is that Coull is old enough to know better. A 64-year-old woman who was given a position of trust should have known better.

She will be sentenced later this year and I hope an example is made of her.

People who prey on the innocent deserve to be punished.