FRAIL, confused Evelyn Everaerts was the perfect victim. Suffering from dementia, the vulnerable pensioner was easy prey for the scheming son of her neighbour Dorothy Ditcher.

When Timothy Ditcher discovered that the lonely 86-year-old living in the flat below his mother's was a wealthy woman, having amassed a small fortune from dealing in stocks and shares, he set about conning her out of her life savings.

Widowed Mrs Ditcher went on shopping errands for the pen-sioner who walked with a stick having suffered polio as a child.

She also cooked meals for Evelyn at their flat block in Cavendish Place, Bournemouth.

Grateful for the attention, Evelyn, who had no relatives living in Britain, gave Dorothy a key to her home.

During Timothy's visits from Germany he fitted handrails in Evelyn's flat and offered to tidy her garden.

After spending her working life in the City, Evelyn had invested her money wisely, purchasing a plot of land in Florida and earning about £40,000 a year from her impressive portfolio.

But as her mental health deteriorated and Evelyn became more forgetful, her neighbour's cunning son persuaded her to hand over large sums of money on the pretence that they would be used for medical treatment for Timothy's ex-girlfriend Anna Linger.

Part of the proceeds of his despicable crimes were used to fund his love for flash cars and Rolex watches.

"He literally cleaned Evelyn out," said investigating officer DC Paul Sullivan. "By the time her solicitor had smelled a rat and noticed large sums of money were going missing, it was too late."

The net began to close in on Ditcher after a member of staff at Evelyn's private portfolio company received a letter from her requesting £100,000 be raised by selling some of her investments.

By mid August Evelyn's solicitor noticed that the balance of one of her client's bank accounts had dropped by £34,000.

In September 2000 Evelyn's portfolio company received another letter from her requesting £150,000 be raised from her investments, arousing further concern.

The following spring Evelyn's solicitor, who now suspected that Ditcher was obtaining money from her client, visited the pensioner.

"The solicitor asked Evelyn if she recalled writing the three cheques totalling £34,000 and if she wanted to make a formal complaint to the police.

"At the end of May 2001 Evelyn's solicitor discovered that a cheque drawn on one of Evelyn's bank accounts for £100,000 had been dishonoured.

"After finding irregularities she checked Evelyn's holdings with her investment company and saw there were substantial reductions which could not be explained by dips in the stock market," added DC Sullivan.

"When her solicitor visited Evelyn again, the pensioner could not remember signing any cheques. She suggested Evelyn make a complaint, and the pensioner agreed."

The police were alerted and Evelyn was interviewed on video.

"When she was shown copies of the letters she had written to her investment company Evelyn confirmed they were in her handwriting but said she could not remember why she had needed the money."

"Enquiries revealed that between February 3, 2000, and April 19, 2001, a staggering £450,000 had gone out of Evelyn's bank and savings portfolio accounts."

When DC Sullivan asked Evelyn if she would agree to sign-ing over thousands of pounds to Ditcher she said: "No, certainly not. I'm not that stupid. I worked hard for my money - it has been well earned."

On March 27, 2002, Evelyn was examined by a consultant psychiatrist who confirmed she was suffering from dementia.

After being tracked down by DC Sullivan, Ditcher agreed to be interviewed at the British Consulate in Munich on April 9, 2002.

"He described himself as an interior decorator and art dealer, but admitted that he had not been working when he received almost £430,000 from Evelyn, claiming it was to pay his partner's medical fees," recalled DC Sullivan.

"He could only provide receipts for medical treatment totalling £28,000."

Evelyn passed away on November 19, 2003, unaware that all but £20,000 of her life savings had been frittered away.

Two days later the father-of-one was extradited to Britain to face court proceedings.

DC Sullivan said: "What he did was disgusting. Evelyn was a lovely lady, a real character who enjoyed her money until mobility problems and dementia took their terrible toll.

"If Evelyn hadn't appointed a solicitor before her condition deteriorated he would probably have got away with it," added DC Sullivan.

"I'm sure Evelyn's case is not unique and sadly there are many other vulnerable people out there who are being tricked into parting with their savings by fraudsters, like Ditcher."