Essex sisters convicted of helping Wembley man who murdered Carole Waugh
Debra Burke and Elaine Perkins impersonated Carole Waugh, pictured, - Credit: Archant
Two sisters who posed as a murdered heiress who was killed by a man from Wembley so they could plunder her fortune have been spared jail.
Debra Burke and Elaine Perkins impersonated Carole Waugh, pictured, - Credit: Archant
Rakesh Bhayani, 41, of Chamberlayne Avenue, hired Debra Burke, 49, and Elaine Perkins, 52, to take out loan and cash cheques on Carole Waugh’s account after he stabbed her to death.
The Old Bailey heard the two women dressed up as Ms Waugh for shopping trips to Selfridges and Westfield and visited her banks armed with her bank cards and identity documents.
Perkins even donned coloured contact lenses and wore her hair up to make the impersonation more convincing when conning solicitors into approving a £200,000 loan on Ms Waugh’s Marylebone apartment.
Ms Waugh was murdered by Bhayani in a calculated plan to raid her bank accounts to clear his gambling debts.
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Her body was bundled into the boot of a car and stashed in a lock-up garage in New Malden for more than three months while attempts to access and launder her money were made.
The two women, who live in Essex, were convicted of a number of fraud offences, which they had denied, but Recorder Martyn Levett said he believed they had both been taken in by the charms of Bhayani and his accomplice in the fraud Nicholas Kutner.
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Perkins was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service.
Burke was given a three year community order, including supervision sessions and 100 hours community service.
Last November, Bhayani was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 27 years and Kutner was convicted of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to 13 years.
