A Bradford man has had his sentence increased following an intervention by the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP.

Barry Riley, 63, abused his position of trust to steal over £100,000 from Ann Skelton, a disabled woman who had granted him Power of Attorney over her finances.

Riley would travel weekly from Bradford to stay with Ann Skelton at her home in Bristol. Between 2015 and 2018 he exploited his position for his own financial gain.

On 10 March 2018, Riley attempted to murder Ann Skelton by smothering her with a pillow, but he stopped before killing her.

The police were alerted. Riley claimed that Ann Skelton had asked him to help her end her life, but she made it clear that he had in fact attacked her. Ann Skelton died in May 2018, though not as a result of any injury or harm caused by the attempt on her life. Following her death, her family and the police discovered the extent of Riley’s fraudulent activity.

Prior to these offences, Riley had 24 previous convictions for 73 offences. At the time of his arrest he was also found to have small amounts of cannabis and cocaine.

Riley plead guilty to attempted murder; he initially attempted to plead on the basis he was asked by Ann Skelton to help end her life, however the basis of his plea was rejected. Riley was convicted of fraud after a trial and pleaded guilty to offences of possession of class A and B drugs.

On 25 February 2021, Riley was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months’ imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court.

Following the Court’s decision, the Solicitor General referred Riley’s sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme. On 11 May 2021, the Court ruled that the sentence was unduly lenient and increased it to 15 years’ imprisonment.

After the hearing at the Court of Appeal the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP, said:

Riley stole from a vulnerable woman who considered him a friend. To escape detection, he then sought to take her life. Sadly, Ann Skelton never lived to see justice delivered, but I hope today’s decision by the Court of Appeal will bring some comfort to her family.

Annabel Nash, 21, is working for Cyber and Information Systems (CIS) at the organisation where her dad Stuart, a senior principal adviser, and her mum, Kerri, a commercial manager, first met.

She credits her parents’ passion for their jobs and their positive stories about the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) for piquing her interest in the organisation and encouraging her to apply for the role she started 18 months ago.

Her other links with defence include a sister who works for BAE plus a boyfriend and a grandfather in the armed forces.

Annabel, from Drayton, Portsmouth, said:

I came from doing my A-Levels and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.

I read the advert for the apprenticeship and looking at the qualities and job description it fitted me quite well. I feel like I had the correct attributes for the job.

Obviously as an apprenticeship it was good as I would learn all those skills and also learn on the job, and earn money as well so that was really attractive.

I think apprenticeships nowadays should be pushed out more for schools and colleges because I think they are amazing.

What I’ve been able to achieve through the apprenticeship has been really good and launched my career at an incredible place.

The People Inside: Annabel Nash

Annabel works for the world-class science facility through the apprenticeship scheme run by Solent University.

She won the Outstanding Apprentice of the Year gong from the university after setting up a network to support the mental wellbeing of fellow students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was an online group, with regular catch-ups, enabling everyone from the course to share experiences and support each other with the challenges of studying and of learning during a pandemic.

Judges also praised her determined and proactive approach to her work and her desire to continuously improve.

She said:

I feel really proud to be part of an organisation like Dstl because I think the work we do here is amazing. Even in the short amount of time I have been here some of the work I have seen produced is beyond my imagination.

Everyone here is so nice and friendly. I get on well with everyone on the team and they are all really supportive and understanding. I am proud that I have been able to quickly adapt to a professional environment.

Winning Solent’s Outstanding Apprentice of Year was amazing. I was shocked, I was obviously so happy. It really solidified to myself that what I was doing is good. I am extremely proud to have already started progressing in my career.

She went on to say she loves her current role and aspires to be a project manager with the organisation and has already been promoted.

As my parents both work in the organisation they understand what I do. It does create conversation and we can talk about it at the dinner table.

Some of my friends don’t really understand what I do. You go to work then you come back and they ask ‘what do you do?’

You do feel quite funny when you have to explain to your friends you can’t tell them what you are working on. They accept it and go along with that and know that some of the work at Dstl is secret.

Working at Dstl is not Annabel’s first experience of performing at a world-class level as in her free time she has been a national and world dance champion.