Jailed: Care home worker who stole from dementia sufferers

JAILING Crook for nine months, Judge Beverley Lunt, told her she had been trusted to look after loved ones’ interests.

She added: “Offences such as this lead family members to a loss of confidence not just in this facility but others too.

“You were trusted by families to look after their loved ones’ interests.

“An immediate prison sentence is inevitable.”

In a statement released after her conviction, Marc Karoo, director of Crawshaw Hall Healthcare Ltd, said: “We’ve been in business over 30 years now and never had something like this happen.

“Trust is very important in the people that work for you and obviously when someone you employ steals from the very people you care for it is a big shock.

“The amounts may have been small but this does not detract from what she did and the trust she broke.

“Fortunately the measures and checks we have in place are what allowed us to detect this theft at an early stage.

“We involved the police at the outset and it is a shame that she left it until the very last minute to admit her guilt when she could have admitted this last April when she was first questioned by police.

“The families of residents, Lancashire adults safeguarding team and the police have been very understanding and supportive throughout, which we appreciate.”