A CALLOUS carer has been jailed for stealing £2,000 from the frail parents of a well-known Hampshire policeman.

Simon Williams took the cash from Joe and Joyce Apter – the parents of Hampshire Police Federation chairman John Apter and Isle of Wight chief fire officer Steve Apter – while he was being paid to care for them.

At the time John’s father was gravely ill and in the last weeks of his life. But it wasn’t until he passed away in February this year that Williams’ appalling crime was revealed.

The 23-year-old had taken Mrs Apter to the bank where she withdrew the money and kept it in a tin in her bedroom.

But the cash went missing and John only found out about the theft when his dad died on Valentine’s Day and his devastated mum revealed what had happened.

A lengthy police investigation ensued during a traumatic time for the family and Williams, employed by care firm D Care, was arrested.

Williams, of Chichester Close, Sandown, was eventually jailed for 14 months and ordered to pay £100 at Isle of Wight Crown Court.

John Apter told the Daily Echo how he has been left angered by Williams’ actions and the affect it has had on the family.

He said: “What really made me and the family angry was that we knew dad was in the last weeks of his life and knew he was not going to be with us long. Williams’ actions stopped us grieving as a family because we were focused on providing support for mum to go through the investigation.

“It has been a really long process.

Mum is now not in good health and has Parkinson’s.

She is upset that she couldn’t grieve for dad and cannot trust people any more. She has put the house on the market because it doesn’t hold good memories for her because she feels she has let dad down. The impact has been dramatic, both emotionally and financially.”

In a statement, Williams’ employers D Care said: “Following the involvement of one of our employees in the court case this week, we would like to state that before any of our staff are employed all care is taken to ensure references, police checks and qualifications are in place. These are checked on inspections by CQC and social services on a regular basis.

“When the first indication of a problem arose the employee in question was immediately interviewed by us and suspended from duty until the due process of the law was completed.

On behalf of everyone at D Care, we wish to extend our apologies for the stress and anxieties to our client and the extended family.”