A CARE home worker who took an elderly resident’s bank card and used it to withdraw about £5,000 has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Abigail Smith, 35, of Thame Park Road, Thame, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Windmill Place care home for the elderly.

Oxford Crown Court heard on Monday Smith made multiple cash withdrawals from the account of Margaret Surgey, an elderly resident who had suffered a stroke and was beginning to suffer dementia.

The fraud amounted to a total of £4,982.84.

Tim Boswell, prosecuting, said the fraud was discovered after a Department for Work and Pensions direct debit for Ms Surgey was returned due to a lack of funds in the account.

He added the resident did not use her card because she could not remember the pin number and would only withdraw cash over the counter at the bank, which care home staff would then use to buy food for her. Mr Boswell said Smith denied all knowledge of the fraud when first interviewed by police but admitted her involvement after being shown CCTV footage of the cash withdrawals.

Mr Boswell said Smith had had an abortion the previous year, which she had not dealt with well.

He added: “She was a well-established member of staff, held in high esteem by her colleagues.”

Mr Boswell said other residents at the home run by Soha Extra Care had been shocked by the fraud.

A new policy has now been put in place as to how money is handled at the care home, he added.

Jenny McVeigh, defending, said following her arrest Smith found another job at a plant hire facility.

She added: “She was obviously well thought of in her role caring for the elderly residents.”

Recorder Patrick Hamlin told Smith: “The elderly woman had suffered a stroke and was beginning to suffer dementia and was wholly dependant on the care she was given.”

Recorder Hamlin acknowledged the personal misfortune of Smith’s abortion, the problems she had experienced with cocaine, and her efforts to overcome them, and said she had shown “genuine remorse and disgust”.

He sentenced Smith to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, and 100 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months.

She was also ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation course for nine months and has been placed under a 12-month supervision order.

Confiscation proceedings to recover the money is also being launched.

Smith pleaded guilty at a separate hearing on June 22.