‘She took over their lives’: Cancer nurse struck off after abusing position to gain inheritance
Ian Percival was walking his dog, Snowy, along the coast near his home in South Wales, when he met Anita George, a cancer nurse at a local Swansea hospital. It was the same route he took every night, but this time he stopped.
“She happened to be on the promenade and crying about her relationship, I believe,” says Ian’s daughter Helen, who doesn’t think that meeting was a coincidence.
What happened next set in motion a chain of events that would lead to allegations of financial grooming, neglect and an NHS nurse being struck off.
Ian Percival was a wealthy businessman in his 70s, who worked as an investor in property and an insurance broker. Part of his business involved renting homes to NHS staff locally.
“Dad was a workaholic, he loved it,” his son, Richard, says fondly.
Ian and his wife, Margaret, who were married for more than 50 years, were well-known and well-liked figures in the Swansea area.
Ian and Margaret as a young couple
Anita was a seemingly trustworthy nurse – who, just three days after meeting Ian, moved into one of his properties to help look after Margaret, who had mobility problems. It was a private arrangement, a deal struck personally, not through the NHS.
“I was doubtful about her from day one,” says Richard.
This is the first time Ian’s children have spoken publicly about what happened, from their home in Brisbane, Australia.
Anita George with Ian and Margaret
‘She took over their lives’
As time went on, they became increasingly concerned about how involved Anita was becoming with their parents. When Ian was diagnosed with cancer, she began also caring for him.
“She took over our parents’ lives. She was constantly with them,” Richard recalls. Increasingly, he felt she was coming between their parents and isolating them from their family.
“Mum was getting excluded,” says Richard. “I felt that she [Anita] had full control, which I have never witnessed before. I just don’t understand how, after mum and dad being together for 52 years, things she did changed everything.”
Margaret and Anita
Helen says Anita’s professional credentials initially reassured her. “I trusted her because she was a nurse at a local hospital.”
But in the months before Ian’s death in December 2016, she could tell things had drastically changed. Anita was refusing to take care of their mother, Helen claims. Instead, she focused all her attention on Ian.
It wasn’t until their father died, that Helen and Richard became aware of the extent of Anita’s involvement with Ian. They believe she’d struck up an inappropriate personal relationship, manipulating him for financial gain.
As they investigated, they moved Margaret to live with them in Australia, where she later died in 2018.
“On dad’s computer, we managed to find some evidence. We thought, this is crazy. I don’t understand… so it made us dig deeper,” says Richard.
Richard with his parents
Cash, a car and property
Ian had given her nearly £15,000 in cash and shares, a car and left her a property worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
“I felt sick because I knew this was her doing,” recalls Helen. “The first thing that came to my mind was that he was financially groomed… she had one motive – to get money.”
“Only when the will was read did I realise how skewed it was.”
Helen believes the will had “huge input” from Anita.
Anita George said she was simply receiving gifts from a friend – but this is not just a story about money and material goods. On Ian’s medical records she had listed herself as his next of kin, even as his daughter and adoptive daughter. All this without his wife or children’s knowledge.
She was managing his hospital appointments, taking his bloods at home, accessing medical equipment. How did Helen feel about a woman she barely knew passing herself off as her father’s daughter?
“It’s devastating. It should never have happened. That’s a massive failing by the NHS.”
It has taken eight years for the family of Ian Percival to achieve any form of justice.
Ian and Margaret
Struck off as a nurse
In December 2024, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) carried out a hearing into the allegations – and found that Anita George had breached professional standards and abused the position of trust as a registered nurse to gain inheritance from a patient.
It ruled that her actions were motivated by the pursuit of financial gain, and it struck her off from the nursing register – its toughest sanction. The NMC report outlines how Ian and Margaret’s isolation, poor health and geographical separation from their children made them particularly vulnerable.
Anita George declined our request for an interview.
During the hearing her legal team argued this all happened outside of her formal employment as a nurse. The situation was unlikely to happen again as her personal life has changed and she’s now married, they added.
Swansea Bay University Health Board, which runs the hospital, is now carrying out a review into any possible failures:
“In light of the findings of the NMC’s hearing we are appalled and want to state clearly to the family that we’re very sorry about what happened. We will be reviewing this case to see if there are any learnings that need to be taken into account. It is important, however, to clarify that the inappropriate financial relationships did not relate to care provided within an NHS context.”
Helen with her father, Ian
South Wales Police carried out an investigation at the time but no charges were brought.
It says it will reopen the case if new lines of inquiry are found.
Financial exploitation of the elderly
The case of Anita George and Ian Percival highlights the growing issue of financial exploitation of the elderly. The Hourglass charity, which works exclusively in this field, says the problem is now at “epidemic” levels.
The number of calls it has received since 2017 has risen by 182% from around 4,500 to 12,700.
In just 14% of economic abuse cases in the last three years, £53m has been reported stolen from the elderly.
It says awareness among the public of what constitutes economic abuse is “shockingly low” – with a poll last year finding more than 26% of people did not believe forcing an older relative to change their will was an act of abuse.
The charity says abuse of the elderly comes in many forms including financial, psychological and physical.
“There are lots of cases we’ve dealt with where the enormity of the abuse is only obvious once the person has passed away,” says Richard Robinson, the charity’s chief executive.
“But there is another issue here; lots of older people don’t want to criminalise their family or their carers because if they [do so] they’ll be left to fend for themselves or they’ll be put into a home.”
While Ian’s children hope police will reopen the case, they also want tougher rules on how carers become involved with patients. Currently, nurses must adhere to the NMC’s professional standards known as the Code, which include acting with “honesty and integrity” in any financial dealings.
“We want legislation put in place so that carers can’t be caring without proper background checks, the next of kin cannot just be somebody they’ve known for two years.”
Helen and her father, Ian
‘Someone finally listened’
Richard added that they were “relieved” Anita George was struck off following the damning report by the NMC.
“Somebody listened to us and took our evidence onboard. You can’t have someone doing what she did – using her position as a nurse…to gain their trust.”
While the pair cherish their memories of their father what happened with Anita George has tarnished the end of his life, for them.
Neither of his parents deserved to suffer this type of abuse, says Richard.
“Dad was a genuine hard-working guy who loved his family. It’s just horrible,” he says, grimly.
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Let’s deal, first of all, with the question many of you will have: after today’s reduction to 4.25% will there be more interest rate cuts to come?
Today, the Bank of England did nothing to sway you – or the financial markets that bet on such things – from the assumption that after today’s quarter percentage point cut there will be further reductions in the cost of borrowing.
Indeed, right now, financial markets assume the Bank will cut UK interest rates down to 3.5% by early next year, and the Bank didn’t contradict that today.
Money blog: What interest rate cut means for your money
But (this being economics, there’s always a “but”) if there was one theme that overarched the Bank’s latest set of forecasts, it was that it’s becoming fiendishly difficult to predict the future.
Take tariffs. In theory, the Bank thinks they’ll actually be much less damaging than many had assumed, with the total impact not enough to push the UK into recession.
But that’s based on a few important assumptions, chief among them that Donald Trump doesn’t re-impose the reciprocal tariffs announced on 2 April – despite the fact that he’s explicitly said they are only temporarily paused. It was based on the assumption that the UK wouldn’t get a trade deal with the US, an assumption that was already out of date by the time the document was published.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
No one really has a clue
The Bank’s forecasts are, in other words, even more uncertain than usual.
Perhaps that helps explain why the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee had a rare three-way split in their vote this month, with two members voting to leave rates on hold, two voting to cut them by half a percentage point, and the remaining five carrying the decision and reducing them by 0.25%.
Now, even taking this uncertainty into account, there are a few things one can take from today’s Bank of England news, and the update from its American counterpart, the Federal Reserve, yesterday.
While tariffs are expected to push inflation up in the US, they are expected to push inflation down in the UK. The upshot is while the Federal Reserve is pausing its interest rate cuts, UK rates are coming down.
Every Bank of England forecast is, by definition, a historic document. Such things take time to model and write so, by the time they come out, they are always a little bit out of date. But never has this been more true of a Bank forecast than the one published today.
The big picture, however, is that no one really has a clue. No one knows what Donald Trump will do next. No one knows what the impact of his tariffs will be on the UK or, indeed, elsewhere. No one knows what this all spells for inflation or unemployment.
UK
VE Day anniversary: Veteran who lost three brothers in Second World War hopes celebrations offer people the chance to ‘learn from history’
A 101-year-old veteran, who has never publicly talked about her wartime experience, wants the VE Day 80th anniversary events to be a chance to reflect on the “unnecessary” conflicts we see today that she says are driven by “pure greed”.
Pauline Alexander was one of five siblings who all served in the Second World War – with three of them among the four family members she lost during the conflict.
She was encouraged to talk about what she went through by her daughter after she saw the Royal British Legion appealing for more surviving veterans to tell their stories.
80 years ago, as Sir Winston Churchill declared there was finally victory in Europe and the celebrations erupted in London, Ms Alexander was in Chelmsford with her mother and sister-in-law.
Sir Winston Churchill announces ‘victory in Europe’ in 1945
“I was at home on leave,” she said.
“We joined in the celebrations, the singing and dancing. It was very exciting. Everyone in Chelmsford had turned out, well those who were still there. But it was very… how can I put it? A feeling of what next… life had changed completely.
“We started [the war] as a family of seven, we ended as three.”
Like so many, Ms Alexander’s war was punctuated by loss.
Her father died while running the family surgical instrument business in 1943, and three of her brothers were killed.
Peter Kipling, an Army dispatch rider, died in a bike accident delivering a message to the war office in London. He was about to be sent to the front in preparation for D-Day.
Guy and Bernard Kipling, who were twins, were both navigators on RAF bombers.
They were shot down in 1941 and 1943, their bodies never came home.
All three are remembered on Peter’s gravestone in Broomfield Cemetery.
Pauline Alexander with her brother Peter Kipling who died before he was due to be sent to the front for D-Day
Pauline Alexander with her brother Guy Kipling who died in the conflict
Looking at photographs of her brothers, Ms Alexander quietly said: “That’s just how I remember them all, just like that.”
When I asked her how she felt when she heard they had died serving their country, she replied: “In those days of war you just had to accept these things.
“It was bound to happen at some time or other. Bernard served on Whitley bombers, and they were known as flying coffins.”
Ms Alexander’s story about her family, and the clerical work she did in the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) from 1942-1946, including at bomber command at RAF Waddington, only came to light because of the Royal British Legion appeal.
She said she previously just thought: “It was our duty to do what we could and that was life, everyone was losing family… it was just something that happened.
“All part of life and living.”
Children wave flags from the ruins of their homes in Battersea, south London, as they celebrate VE Day in 1945. Pic: PA
Families fly flags and bunting in the street on VE Day in 1945. Pic: PA
I asked her how her mother reacted when she said she wanted to sign up.
Ms Alexander replied: “She said yes. It would do me good. I was getting too spoilt at home.”
She added: “If my brothers were in, I had to be in to do my bit too.”
Her mother, Rosa Kipling, was also a remarkable woman.
She lived until 105 and was recognised for bravery in the first honours list to feature MBEs in 1918, after surviving an explosion during the First World War in a munitions factory.
It is no wonder then that her children were all so committed to do their bit.
An elderly woman gets a hug from a GI in London on VE Day. Pic: AP
Sky’s Rhiannon Mills with Pauline Alexander
The sense of service and the acceptance of the sacrifices that had to be made now feel more important than ever, especially in the context of ongoing global conflicts.
That was something that Ms Alexander was keen to talk about from her home in March, Cambridgeshire, where she will be watching today’s events.
Read more:
New photos show how wartime films were made
Why King’s message to veterans is very personal
VE Day 80th anniversary celebration in pictures
Asked why she believes it is so important that we take time to remember today, she said: “Because it’s all part of history, and history is very important, because we learn from history.
“When you think of all the conflicts that are going on now and how it’s all unnecessary in a sense, just pure greed. Because what they went through [in the Second World War] was absolute hell.”
As I reflected with her that they truly are an amazing generation, Ms Alexander simply replied: “Yes, there’ll never be another one like it.”
The King and Queen have paid their respects to Britain’s war dead at a service to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
The royal couple were among 2,000 people – including 78 veterans – who attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London.
The thanksgiving service, which included music and readings, paused at midday for a national two-minute silence in memory of those who died.
Poppies surrounded the grave of the Unknown Warrior in the abbey
King Charles lays a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Warrior. Pic: Reuters
Followed by his son, the Prince of Wales. Pic: Reuters
State trumpeters play a fanfare during the service. Pic: Reuters
Other attendees included the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and some of his Downing Street predecessors, including David Cameron and Boris Johnson.
The King laid a wreath, which featured the message “We will never forget”, at the grave of the Unknown Warrior, followed by the Prince of Wales.
The Princess and Prince of Wales also paid their respects. Pic: Reuters
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer were among the dignitaries. Pic: Reuters
David Cameron, pictured arriving at the abbey with his wife Samantha, was one of several former prime ministers who attended. Pic: Reuters
At their side, watching from his wheelchair, was veteran Ken Hay, 99, who served in the infantry regiment.
Actor Josh Dylan read a letter from Lance Corporal Fredrick Burgess to his seven-year-old son Freddie, written while he was serving in Italy.
He quoted the serviceman, whose granddaughter Susan was among those in the abbey, as writing: “When I do come home, and it will not be very long now, I’m going to buy you something extra specially nice for being such a good boy.”
Members of the royal family at the thanksgiving service.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: PA
RAF veterans Kathleen, 101, and Roy Lawrence, 101, who have been married for 74 years, share a kiss at a VE Day anniversary event in Staffordshire. Pic: PA
Lance Corporal Burgess also described the rain in Italy and how his small tank, which he named Freddie II after his son, had been damaged with a “whacking big hole” by a bomb.
Dylan revealed: “Seven months after writing this letter, Lance Corporal Burgess was killed.”
An excerpt of wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill‘s 1945 victory speech, in which he declared the war in Europe was over, was also played.
His great-great-grandson Alexander Churchill, aged 10, lit a peace candle and later read a prayer for “peace in Europe and across the world”.
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