A terrified 85-year-old slept with a sword under his bed for protection after his “trusted” carer stole gold from him.

Steven Tizzard, 62, of Primrose Road in Norwich, appeared at Norwich Crown Court on Monday, August 10, charged with theft, after he stole a gold ingot worth £2,443 from a Mr Gandon.

Mr Gandon, who suffered from mobility and memory problems, met Tizzard when he worked as his carer through the Home Instead Agency.

The court heard that in 2017 the arrangement became private and Tizzard started attending his home twice a week.

Prosecuting, Duncan O’Donnell told the court suspicions were raised when the elderly man’s granddaughter realised £900 a month was being withdrawn from his account, and he could not remember who had made the transaction.

Concerns rose when it was discovered one of the five gold ingots and coins he kept in his home was missing.

The gold, along with £450 in cash, was then found in Tizzard’s home.

Mr O’Donnell said the victim was clear he had not given any of his gold to Tizzard, who upon arrest “suggested he was being fitted up by the police for his investigations into a paedophile ring”.

The court heard how Mr Gandon died in April. In his place, his daughter Nicola made an impact statement.

She said her father was a proud man for whom it took a lot to ask for help but who grew to like and trust Tizzard.

She said after the theft her father “stopped trusting anyone and felt incredibly unsafe in his own home”.

She changed the locks on her father’s house but said he started to sleep with his sword under his bed in case Tizzard came back.

She added: “I don’t think my father ever got over what Steven Tizzard did to him.”

Mitigating, Mr Goodman said Tizzard was a man of previous good character.

He said Tizzard offered no explanation for being in possession of the gold and told police: “I don’t know what I was thinking and why I took them. I just wanted to look at them.”

Addressing Tizzard’s accusations against the police, Mr Goodman said: “He was initially ashamed of what he had done and it was a misguided suggestion that the police were framing him.”

Tizzard pleaded guilty to theft.

Judge Holt told Tizzard he had taken advantage of a “very vulnerable” victim and sentenced him to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years and 200 hours unpaid work.