An “utterly heartless” man, who defrauded his terminally-ill father out of almost £50,000, has been ordered to pay back £27,000.

Mark Tennant, 36, of Davies Way, Sidcup, was issued with a confiscation order at Inner London Crown Court after he previously admitted defrauding his father of £49,266.82 between February 2010 and April 2012.

The alarm was raised after Tennant’s father became so ill he required full-time medical care.

His relatives looked into his finances in order to assess potential care options and realised thousands of pounds were missing.

After a police investigation it emerged Tennant had been stealing money while acting as full-time paid carer to his father, who died in hospital on April 16, 2012.

Detectives from the criminal finance team based at Lewisham police station quickly put in place a restraint order on funds Tennant was due to inherit following his father’s death, meaning £27,000 was frozen in a holding account and he was unable to access any more of the money.

On May 24, 2012, detectives charged Tennant with fraud by false representation. He was eventually convicted of the offence.

He was sentenced on July 31 this year to 20 months in prison.

Officers then applied for a confiscation hearing to stop Tennant from inheriting the £27,000 that had been left to him.

They were unable to apply to confiscate any more funds as they found Tennant had squandered the money he had stolen from his father and possessed no other significant assets.

The money that has been confiscated will go back into his late-father’s estate to be distributed among the remaining beneficiaries of the will.

Detective Sergeant Michael McElroy, from the Met’s criminal finance team, said: "Tennant took advantage of his position of trust to steal almost £50,000 from his terminally ill father.

“The fraud came to light when his father needed to use money for full-time healthcare - money he had saved up over his lifetime. Indeed, his father discovered the extent of what his son had stolen, just prior to his death.

"I can only describe Tennant’s deeds as utterly heartless. His father was an honest, decent man, who had worked his whole life. I hope this case helps to highlight that police can assist other families who may find themselves in similar situations."