Carer stole £50,000 from 90-year-old
A CARER forged signatures on cheques to steal £50,000 from a 90-year-old dementia sufferer that she had been looking after.
The Royal Court heard yesterday how Nicola Gavey, 38, pictured, had offended despite her release from prison for a similar crime.
Jailing her for two-and-a-half years, Judge Russell Finch said the probation report had shown how Gavey had taken advantage of a couple's worsening health because detection was less likely.
'Care workers are under a duty of care to protect the interests of vulnerable people and not steal their money,' he said.
'There were substantial aggravating factors in this case and there had been a clear and merited uplifting of sentence given the previous offence.
'It had been a despicable and wicked plan.
'People put their trust in carers, and every now again greedy and dishonest people would abuse it.'
The court was told how, in January last year in the Magistrate's Court, Gavey had been jailed for four months for four counts of fraud. On that occasion, while working for the same company, she took a credit card belonging to a vulnerable elderly client and used it to steal a total of £1,500 cash.
