A man will be jailed for almost four years after he tried to claim almost $400,000 of his late girlfriend’s superannuation just days after she died in surgery.
Travis Paul Barnard, 32, was sentenced in the Perth District Court on Friday after being found guilty by a jury in March of logging into Kim Heptinstall’s super account on her mobile phone and changing the beneficiary nomination to his details.
He tried to access up to $400,000 in superannuation and life insurance benefits.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged Barnard in July 2020 after investigating claims the superannuation account had been accessed in the hours after Ms Heptinstall, 32, died during gastric sleeve surgery in 2019.
Barnard was sentenced to three years and 10 months in jail which was backdated to March 25, 2024, with a non-parole period of one year and 11 months.
Travis Barnard (pictured) has been sentenced to almost four years in jail for fraudulently trying to claim almost $400,000 of his dead girlfriend’s superannuation after her sudden death
The AFP charged Barnard in July 2020 after investigating claims the superannuation account had been accessed in the hours after Ms Heptinstall, 32, died during gastric sleeve surgery in 2019 (his arrest is pictured)
Barnard tried to conceal the offences by deleting Ms Heptinstall’s banking and superannuation apps and signing out of her email address, the court heard.
He then handed the phone over to her family.
Ms Heptinstall’s family reported concerns about her financial affairs after Barnard tried to get a copy of her death certificate.
Barnard, who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in 2015, initially denied committing the offences.
He later claimed the offending had been the work of ‘the other Travis’.
District Court Judge David MacLean refused to accept his ‘baseless’ claim, saying it was like trying to hold a ‘phantom’ responsible.
Kim Heptinstall (pictured) died suddenly from complications during surgery in 2019
Outside court, Ms Heptinstall’s brother Ben (pictured) said his family had been through ‘hell’
Judge MacLean said Barnard had failed to show any remorse for his crimes or take responsibility for the ‘cold-hearted’ breach of trust.
He said there was a high risk Barnard would offend again and that the only appropriate punishment was jail time, effective immediately.
Outside court, Ms Heptinstall’s brother Ben said his family had been through ‘hell’.
‘It’s a relief that it’s finally come to light, because we’ve had to live with the lies for the last five years,’ he said.
‘For the judge to finally acknowledge and accept what really happened in those hours and days after my sister’s passing is a massive relief for basically what we’ve been fighting for, for the last five years.’
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