Terri Cowley and Hollie Dixon: “despicable” thieves who robbed vulnerable 75-year-old in their care spared jail

Terri Cowley: 26-week custodial sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours’ community service

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Terri Cowley and Hollie Dixon, who acted as carers for a vulnerable 75-year-old man whilst secretly stealing his money, have escaped jail.

Mother and daughter were caught on CCTV pocketing cash in the home of retired Normal Halsall, the former landlord of The Tanners Arms pub on Whitworth Road.

Cowley was given a 26-week custodial sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours’ community service. Dixon was sentenced to a 20 week suspended custodial sentence.

Due to Mr Halsall’s deteriorating health he asked Cowley, 59, to help him clean around the house. She soon offered for her daughter, Hollie Dixon, to lend a helping hand and become his carer.

The devious pair would then take the pensioner for meals and nights out to get him out of the house but would empty his drawers and a safe of cash as soon as his back was turned.

Appearing at Rochdale and Bury Magistrates Court on Friday (11 March), the pair hurled abuse at reporters and refused to apologise for their actions.

Mr Halsall said: “Terri was my cleaner at first and then her daughter started joining in and she started caring for me. They would help me in the bath and things like that, I really wasn’t well.

“I trusted her, I trusted them both. They seemed personable and friendly people, and as they are related to me I would never have imagined something like this could happen. I even went out for meals with them and I really enjoyed it.

He added: “When you are elderly and you have a carer and sometimes that’s the only person you get to see in a day. You naturally form a relationship with them. You naturally trust them. This has set me back a bit to be honest, I’ve been struggling.”

After the sentencing, Mr Halsall’s granddaughter Alison spoke of her disgust, she said: “The hardest thing to process in all of this is not that they have done it, but that they are so rude and abusive and won’t apologise.

“What they have done is despicable and they deserved prison in my eyes.

"Norman has been very badly affected by this, he doesn’t socialise like he used to and it’s really upset him in a lot of ways.

"The people who are supposed to be caring for someone vulnerable or elderly are in a position of trust and the way they breached that trust is unforgivable.”