Kim Barwell during a 2008 court appearance. File photo / APN
“You have preyed on the elderly, the frail, the vulnerable and the kind.”
That’s what a judge told a notorious fraudster who spins tales to elderly folk to con them out of thousands of dollars.
Kim Barwell, 56, appeared in the Christchurch District Court before Judge John Brandts-Giesen for sentencing today.
The court heard Barwell, who has previously been jailed for scamming people, approached elderly victims and spun stories in the hope they would part with their cash.
Judge Brandts-Giesen labelled him a “manipulative fraudster”.
The court heard that in July this year, Barwell went to the address of one of his victims and asked for $180 to pay for fuel, saying he drives a rig.
The victim gave him $120 on the proviso it would be repaid, but it was not.
The following month, Barwell went to another victim’s house and asked for money, claiming his truck had run out of petrol.
The victim gave him $130 and then a further $50 when Barwell said he also needed money for a petrol container. It was not repaid.
Three days later, Barwell arrived on the doorstep of another victim, claiming his car had broken down and he needed to pay a mechanic.
The victim agreed to give Barwell a ride to his vehicle but on the way, Barwell convinced them to stop at an ATM and withdraw $170, which he pocketed.
The victim waited with Barwell for the mechanic to arrive but after an hour they had to leave. Barwell said he would return to their house to repay them the cash, but he never did.
The next day Barwell targeted his most vulnerable victim yet - an 85-year-old who was blind.
Barwell went to the victim’s house and asked for money, saying his van had broken down. He called a taxi for himself and the victim, which took them to an ATM.
There, Barwell withdrew $1400 from the victim’s account.
While the victim was unaware of how much money had been withdrawn, Barwell, yet again, promised to repay the cash and never did.
Barwell asked two other victims for money but they didn’t believe his tales and refused to pay him.
In court, he faced four counts of obtaining by deception and two of attempting to obtain by deception.
Judge Brandts-Giesen said Barwell had conned his victims out of $1980 and the public was “entitled to a break from you”.
“You have a cunning manner which shows you are not entirely stupid. I don’t wish to sound heartless but you have been heartless to these people.”
Defence lawyer Stephen Hembrow said Barwell had fallen into old habits after finding himself down on his luck.
He and his partner had struggled to find accommodation because of his criminal history and had been living in a tent at a campground for some time.
He later moved to Christchurch in an effort to improve his life but his car, which contained all of his belongings, was stolen.
Barwell was simply “at his wit’s end”, Hembrow told the judge.
Despite Barwell having a criminal history that spanned the past four decades, Hembrow said his client had made a “real effort” to turn his life around and had not reoffended for five years.
This showed he was capable of breaking the cycle, Hembrow said, arguing for a sentence of intensive supervision, which would assist Barwell with his accommodation and psychiatric needs.
But Judge Brandts-Giesen questioned whether Barwell was truly remorseful.
“This spree involved planning, which makes any remorse rather hollow. People who go back to their old habits don’t appear to have learned much.”
He instead jailed Barwell for 13 months.
Barwell is no stranger to defrauding people. His criminal history dates back to 1981 and is around 50 pages long, the court heard.
He was released from jail in 2020 after spending four years behind bars for scamming an elderly couple out of more than $90,000.
Before that, he was jailed in 2013 for 16 months for a petrol scam in which he pretended to be a farmer who had run out of petrol.
He would then ask members of the public for petrol money so he could get home, promising to pay them back and even offering them free meat from his farm that didn’t exist.
A pile of sparklers and a lighter were found at the scene.