



A conman who claimed to be in an elite special forces unit has been jailed for his part in a plot to dump an American pensioner with dementia in rural England so he would be cared for by the NHS.

Simon Hayes left Roger Curry, 78, with medical staff in Hereford, claiming he had found him face down in a country lane.

Curry smiled and cried as he was abandoned. He had an American accent but could not explain to nurses or, later, care home staff, who he was or how he had come to be in the UK.

Hayes, 53, described in court as a “pathological liar”, told “a pack of lies” about Curry. His actions and false witness statements led detectives on a “wild goose chase” as they tried to work out where Curry had come from and how he had got to the UK, Worcester crown court was told.

Simon Davis QC, prosecuting, said Hayes, of Taunton, Somerset, was contacted by his friend Kevin Curry – the victim’s son – who was living in California.

They exchanged a series of texts and calls before Kevin Curry flew with his mother and father to Gatwick on 5 November 2015. On 23 November, Kevin Curry and his mother flew to Denmark – without his father.

Davis told Worcester crown court: “The defendant was part of a plan to bring Roger from the US and dump him in Hereford, abandoning him so he could receive care from local healthcare providers. It was clearly planned.”

At 4.20pm on 5 November, Hayes, dressed in a fake military uniform and putting on a US accent, took Curry to Hereford bus station, near a hospital, telling a nurse and later paramedics he had found the man in a country lane.

Hayes left Curry with medics, claiming he could not give any contact details because he was “working with the SAS” at its nearby camp.

Davis said Hayes then joined Kevin Curry and his mother on a holiday to France and Copenhagen.

Back in Hereford, the mystery of Curry’s identity – he was known as Credenhill Man after the location where he was found - triggered an international police appeal for information, even involving the FBI, before the truth came out.

Police began to suspect he had been deliberately dumped, and suspicion even fell on a medic Hayes had initially spoken to at the bus station.

By March 2016, Roger Curry, who had an autistic spectrum disorder and Alzheimer’s disease, managed to tell nurses his name.

Inquiries led authorities to ring Kevin Curry’s address in Whittier, California, but he claimed nobody called Roger lived there.

The police got a break when Hayes, for reasons that are still a mystery, called West Mercia police, identifying himself as the man who handed the victim to medics.

But Hayes again lied, claiming he and a “Canadian army serviceman” had found Curry and that at the time, he had been “attending a course at the SAS base”.

Detectives arrested Hayes. The prosecutor added: “He said he had been in the SBS (Special Boat Service) but was unable to answer a simple question any serviceman would know: ‘What’s your [service] number?’”

Hayes admitted perverting the course of justice and a separate case of fraud, in relation to a false character reference. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

The victim was cared for by the NHS while a public appeal and criminal investigation continued, at a cost of up to £20,000. He was safely returned to the US in 2016.

Davis said Curry’s son is under investigation in the US for elder abuse, fraud and kidnapping.

Describing the crime as a “well-planned deception”, the judge, Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC, said: “There was an enormous waste of police and public resources because of false information put forward by the defendant.

“I cannot find any case remotely similar to the facts of this case, curiously because there appears to be no apparent benefit to the defendant.”



