A CAREWORKER from Rhoose who stole more than £6,000 from one of her patients to fund her online gambling habit has been sentenced to 10 months in prison.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how Sarah O’Brien, 41, of Port Road, Rhoose, took money from the account of Susan Hopkins, 63, who is so severely disabled she has no understanding of what happened to her.
O’Brien was one of only three people placed as a signatory for Ms Hopkins’ bank account. The thefts took place during the first Covid lockdown when no audit was done on the accounts of those receiving care.
A total of £6,450 was stolen by O’Brien between March 2020 and February 2021, which was used to pay for her habit. The court heard how she had amassed debts of £22,000 through online gambling websites.
O’Brien pleaded guilty to taking advantage of a person in her care for financial gain at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court at a previous hearing in early August, but the case was referred to the Crown Court for sentencing due to the seriousness of her offences.
In April 2021, as Covid restrictions began to ease, an audit of service users’ accounts was taken, and it was discovered that O’Brien had accessed Ms Hopkins’s account 35 times.
O’Brien was initially questioned where she lied by claiming that £1,000 was used to buy furniture for Ms Hopkins.
The court heard how O’Brien’s life was in chaos at the time of the offences. Her long-term partner and father to her two boys had moved out of the council flat they shared, and the sons went to live with him after O’Brien struggled to care for them.
Details were also revealed of how O’Brien suffered from the stresses of working in a contagious care home setting during the pandemic and of being away from her family.
The judge, Recorder Ben Blakemore, said that O’Brien had paid back Ms Hopkins before taking the money again in part to fund her gambling habit.
Sentencing O’Brien, Recorder Blakemore said: “Society relies on trust. Vulnerable people rely on care workers who can be trusted. You breached that trust.”
The care home has since reimbursed Ms Hopkins for the stolen money.
By MARCUS STEAD
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