Southport's most costly criminal trial ever can now be talked about in the media for the first time in 14 months as the Judge in the case of Care Home Owner David Barton's fraud and theft lifted reporting restrictions.

David Barton senior, 64, was exposed in a criminal trial lasting an entire whole year at Liverpool Crown Court of befriending then betraying his wealthy victims at luxurious Barton Park Nursing Home on Oxford Road, Birkdale.

Barton was convicted of multiple frauds and thefts after the longest trial in the history of Liverpool Crown Court, having concealed brazen crimes for 18 years and only being caught out by what the prosecuting Counsel described as his "extraordinary greed".

Barton groomed vulnerable residents, became their next of kin, obtained power of attorney and became an executor and beneficiary of their wills. He liquidated his victims' assets so they could be cashed into their bank accounts, then drained these accounts of fund. He sold two elderly women his Rolls Royce cars, each worth between £100,000 and £150,000, for a "grossly inflated" £500,000 per car. He took his victims out once a week in their cars which he kept in his garage, then when they died, stole one of the vehicles back via inheritance. He attempted to claim £10 million from the estate of one resident when she died, after she and her husband had already paid £1 million for just two years of care

Judge Steven Everett today said of Barton: "He is one of the most unpleasant people, one of the most dishonest people, one could ever meet.. His behaviour was nothing short of despicable."

Prosecutor Benjamin Myers QC told the trial that Barton lavished attention on his victims and deliberately isolated them from friends and family. He said the crook had a snake-like ability "to worm his way into the hearts and finances of wealthy residents and to prey upon their frailties and vulnerabilities. They became dependent upon him - he groomed them so that they trusted him and relied upon him entirely."

"He led them to believe that he was the only person who cared for them. They believed he was their saviour. They would make him their friend, their next of kin, the beneficiary under their wills. He would take their money from them whilst they were alive and he would try to take whatever he could from their estates once they were dead."

Barton was originally called Ramamurthie Dasaratha Naidoo but changed his name after he and his wife Lucinda became directors of his mother and father's nursing home business Choice Classic Ltd in 1992. He gained control of the homes, following a huge legal battle which him with more than £2 million in debt.

Barton's undoing began when a wealthy resident called Katie Willey died, and he decided to bring an civil claim against the deceased pensioner's multi-million pound estate. He had previously tried to set up a deal with Mrs Willey in which she would transfer all her money to him, in return for herself and her husband Gordon, who suffered from dementia, receiving lifelong care. The couple lived at Barton Park for just two years and had paid out £1 million for this, yet Barton claimed they owed him £10 million for care and services. Barton produced false documents to try and defraud Mrs Willey's estate however,although these claims unravelled and were not taken to a civil trial, Barton's dishonesty was brought to the attention of police.

In addition to his amassing property, Barton also seemed to have an obsession with luxury motor cars. At the time of his arrest in 2014, the Barton family owned a Ferrari Enzo, two Ferrari F430s, a Ferrari 456M, two Rolls Royce Corniches, a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit, a Mercedes S63 and a Mercedes C63.

The prosecution alleged that Barton's activities were driven by an dream of building an expensive luxury spa on Oxford Road in the property lying behind the huge black gate opposite Barton Park on Oxford Road, Birkdale. Barton hoped this exclusive facility would attract footballers and celebrities. The prosecution's case includes allegations that Barton senior laundered his ill-gotten gains through the bank accounts of his sons, the former Conservative councillor David Richard Barton and his younger brother David Charles Barton.

David Barton senior was found guilty of five fraud offences in May of this year after a trial lasting one year and three days. He was also found guilty of three counts of theft, one count of false accounting and one count of transferring criminal property. He was acquitted on two further theft charges

Barton Park 's general manager Rosemary Booth of Hesketh Drive, Southport, was also convicted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and has been told by the judge that she, like Barton, must expect a prison sentence. The Jury could not agree a verdict on a further count of conspiracy to defraud against Barton and Booth so this has been 'left on the file'.

Thomas Mills, 70, Nicola Pimlott, 60, and Colette Morris, 43, were also charged with conspiracy to defraud. But Mills, of Roe Lane, Southport, a solicitor in the Southport law firm Goffeys, died before the trial.

Senior carer and registered manager Pimlott, of Albert Place, Southport, was found not guilty and when Jurors were unable to reach a verdict against registered manager Morris, of Priory Close, Burscough, the prosecutors dropped this charge. Bookkeeper, Kiria Hughes, 42, of Lulworth Road, Southport, admitted conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. The sentencing of Barton senior, Booth and Hughes begins today. Barton senior and Booth have been remanded in custody while Hughes is released on bail.

The Former Southport Conservative councillor David Richard Barton, 28, and his brother David Charles Barton, 25, both of Oxford Road, Birkdale, are now due to stand trial on charges of laundering their father's ill-gotten gains in a trial which is due to start on January 14th 2019. Their mother Lucinda Barton will be tried separately for conspiracy to steal, false accounting, conspiracy to defraud, theft and money laundering starting on November 5th of this year.