- David Bickel, 58, from Attleborough, Norfolk, took the money over six years
- Norwich Crown Court heard how Bickel got ‘power of attorney’ to carry out theft
- It came to light in April 2021 when his father was almost evicted from care home
A bomb disposal veteran who stole £486,000 from his dying father and left him with just 48p as he battled dementia has been jailed for four years.
David Bickel, 58, from Attleborough, Norfolk, took the money over six years from his sick father Peter, on top of taking all the proceeds from selling his house.
The father-of-three was able to carry out the thefts because he had control of his father’s finances after getting ‘lasting power of attorney’ over him.
Norwich Crown Court heard how he took £486,101.13 between his father’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 2015 until shortly before he died aged 84 in 2021.
The fraud came to light in April 2021 when Mr Bickel senior was about to be evicted from his care home because of unpaid fees of more than £85,000.
Prosecutor Danielle O’Donovan said it was at this point that Bickel ‘admitted he had sold his father’s home and stolen all the money’.
Mr Bickel senior had had just 48p left to his name by the time of his death, meaning 17 of his relations – including three grandchildren, nieces and nephews – missed out on inheritances that had been left to them in his will.
Ms O’Donovan said the health of Nickel’s father had begun to decline in 2015 when he started ‘putting rubbish into the fridge rather than the bin’.
She said Bickel ‘took advantage’ of his father’s ‘ill health and forgetfulness’ by ‘helping himself to his money’.
Ms O’Donovan said it was not a case where a gambling addiction or drink or drugs problem could account for where the money had gone.
Bickel, is thought to have served 22 years in the Army as a sapper and bomb disposal expert between 1983 and 2005.
He is believed to have worked in a variety of health and safety posts after leaving the Army, and volunteered to help the SSAFA armed forces charity.
The keen golfer admitted theft and fraud between May 2015 and April 2021 at an earlier hearing.
Jailing him for four years, Judge Anthony Bate said he had displayed ‘egregious, sustained dishonesty’.
The judge told Bickel that he had served his country with ‘distinction’ as a soldier, but he added: ‘You took advantage of your father’s ill health and started taking his money’.
Gavin Cowe, defending, said Bickel was previously a man of ‘exemplary’ good character with a ‘long service record’ in the forces.
He said there were ‘many positive things’ to be said on behalf of Bickel who had ‘admitted these matters from the outset’.
Mr Cowe added that Bickel felt ‘shame and embarrassment’ about the ‘enormity’ of the figures taken from his father.
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