Detective 'left widow penniless'

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A high-ranking detective who was given power of attorney over an elderly widow's finances stole tens of thousands of pounds, a court has heard.

Sussex Det Ch Insp Peter Salkeld plundered Eileen Savage's finances over four years until she was penniless, Maidstone Crown Court was told.

He bought her £105,000 home himself for £55,000, selling it on two years later for £157,000, it is alleged.

Mr Salkeld, 42, of West Sussex, denies 19 charges of theft and deception.

'True intentions'

David Walbank, prosecuting, said Mr Salkeld bought Mrs Savage's home about a year after taking over her finances.

He said there was no suggestion that Mrs Savage, now 93 and in a care home in Hove, was at the time mentally incapable.

"She may not have understood the extent to which the price he paid represented an undervalue," he said.

"What is clear, however, is that she was at that time deceived as to the defendant's true intentions."

He said Mr Salkeld stripped Mrs Savage's assets between May 1997 and January 2001.

In July 1998, Mr Salkeld stole £11,750 from Mrs Savage's Portman Building Society account to buy a sports car, it is alleged.

'Duped council'

He then took two amounts of £35,000 each, leaving just over £11,000 in an HSBC account from which he continued to withdraw cash up until he was arrested in January 2006, Mr Walbank said.

The court also heard that Mr Salkeld duped Brighton and Hove City Council into funding the care and accommodation costs of Mrs Savage.

The alleged offences came to light after police colleagues became suspicious following a series of other, smaller-scale offences.

It is claimed Mr Salkeld bought goods for his own personal use on the force's credit card.

He is also accused of deceiving his employer by claiming a grant from the Sussex Police Welfare Fund for £1,100 to buy caravanning equipment.

Mr Salkeld, of The Avenue, Shoreham, denies theft, obtaining property by deception and obtaining a money transfer by deception between May 1997 and September 2005.

The trial continues.