By Tony O’Riley-
A conman who posed as an NHS employee to trick a 92-year-old woman into paying for a fake coronavirus vaccine has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
The victim, now 93, invited David Chambers, 33, into her home in Surbiton, south-west London, on the afternoon of December 30 last year as the jab was first being rolled out to vulnerable people.
The pensioner had recently been contacted by her GP surgery and believed Chambers, who was wearing a fake lanyard, had been sent to administer the vaccine.
The fraudster asked her to roll up her sleeve, pretending to give her the jab, pressing something she described as “dart-like implement” against the back of her wrist.
Chambers, who did not inject anything or break his victim’s skin, charged her £140.
He then returned days later on January 4 to demand another £100, which she refused to pay.
In a statement, the victim described the scam as “harrowing” but said she hopes it “doesn’t deter people from getting vaccinated”.
Chambers was jailed at Kingston Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation and battery at a previous hearing.
Judge Hannah Kinch branded his actions “despicable” and said: “I have no doubt your actions caused significant anxiety and distress to other elderly people at that time, worried they might too fall victim to that scam.
“Your actions were cruelly calculated to trick the victim into thinking she had been properly vaccinated so as to be able to obtain payment from her.”
Chambers was also given a seven-year criminal behaviour order to stop him targeting elderly victims in their homes.
The court heard he was previously jailed for 18 months for burgling an elderly woman after telling her he needed to check her boiler and radiators.
He was also handed a suspended sentence, which was later activated, for defrauding two elderly victims by claiming he needed to borrow money for a locksmith after getting locked out of his home.
The judge said: “Your previous convictions show a propensity to deliberately target vulnerable elderly victims in their own homes, a place where they should feel safe and secure.