'A carer stole £6,400 from our vulnerable mum'

A carer stole almost £6,400 from an 85-year-old woman to buy takeaways, go shopping and pay her utility bills, a court has heard.

Chloe Haigh, 28, made more than 165 payments between January and August 2023 using Dorothy Titler's bank cards, having been given access to her account to do her shopping.

Mrs Titler's daughters said their mother had been left feeling "embarrassed" by the theft and was no longer able to support her grandchildren as much as she had hoped.

Mother-of three Haigh, of Red Hill Avenue, Barnsley, was handed a 14-month suspended sentence at Sheffield Crown Court and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to charges of theft and theft by an employee.

Daughter Deborah Titler said: "It makes you feel sick, physically sick, that someone could actually come in and do that to a vulnerable, 85-year-old lady."

She said her mother had paid privately for care to support her with problems caused by probable dementia, diabetes, heart problems and severe arthritis.

Haigh started visiting Mrs Titler weekly in 2019 and did so throughout lockdown, contributing to three daily carer visits to the home.

Her eldest daughter, Linda Bowskill, from Morton, in North Yorkshire, uncovered Haigh's spending, which totalled £6398.83, after her mum's landline was cut off.

"She showed me her bank statements and there were pages of payments for things like Just Eat, JD Sports, Next, British Gas, Toys R Us - all sorts," Mrs Bowskill said.

"It was just shocking. [Haigh] is someone we trusted even though we didn't know her personally. It has made us question everybody."

On two occasions, bailiffs visited the house in Barnsley about unpaid council tax, causing "significant embarrassment" to former bank worker Mrs Titler, her family said.

Despite feeling "upset and more vulnerable" after the theft, she did not want to leave the home she had shared with her husband, prior to his death in 2013.

Deborah Titler said: "The carers became like family for her. It is like having a member of your family do that to you.

"To do this to someone of that age, so isolated and so vulnerable - it's disgusting."

On behalf of Haigh, Richard Davies told the court: "She deeply regrets what she has done. She recognises the seriousness of it and is aware of the impact it has had on the victim and their family."

He said Haigh had used some of the money for essentials like council tax, adding that she had saved £500 of her benefit payments to start paying Mrs Titler back.

Passing sentence judge Charles Thomas described Haigh's actions as a ""gross abuse of trust" saying her previous good character had been ""precisely what enabled [her] to carry out this offending".

He said it was clear Mrs Titler's "whole family has been affected by this" but he was "heartened" that Haigh was working to pay back the money.

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