Carer stole almost £11,000 from disabled woman

A carer who stole almost £11,000 from a disabled woman over four years has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Gillian Brians was employed to help the victim with her online grocery shopping, which meant she had access to her bank card and Pin number, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The 62-year-old, who started to work for the woman in April 2019, regularly took the card and made cash withdrawals, prosecutors said.

Brians, of Balmlaw, Gateshead, admitted fraud by false representation and was jailed for 14 months, suspended for 18 months.

Suspicions arose in April 2023 when another carer noticed the victim's bank card was not in her purse, prosecutor Rachel Butt said.

They flagged it to managers who investigated and found the card had been used multiple times to make withdrawals, totalling about £10,749, from machines close to where Brians lived.

When confronted, Brians admitted to what she had done and said she was an alcoholic who stole to fund her vodka addiction, Ms Butt said.

In a statement, the 55-year-old victim said she had "thought the world" of Brians but the carer "abused" her trust.

She said she found it very difficult to put her trust in anybody else, adding: "I put my trust in this woman who was getting paid to look after me with my day-to-day needs, I did not expect her to steal from me."

In mitigation, Jason Smith said Brians felt "very guilty" and had instantly paid back £889 to the victim, and was paying her £25 a month, although he acknowledged the full amount would never be returned.

The court heard the victim's bank may return the money as she had been subject to a fraud.

Judge Nathan Adams said he believed Brians probably would have carried on stealing from the woman if she had not been caught, adding she "took advantage" of her.

"You deliberately targeted her knowing her vulnerability and believed it was unlikely you would have been caught," the judge said.

Judge Adams said Brians "richly deserved" a prison sentence for her "mean offence" but there was a "good prospect" of rehabilitation.

She will have to abide by an alcohol abstinence monitoring programme for 120 days and was also ordered to pay £300 compensation at the rate of £25 a month.

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