A dishonest care worker has repaid almost £4,000 she illegally took to buy her shopping by using a vulnerable woman’s bank details.
Yesterday it was revealed that the family of 55-year-old Shirley Cameron, of Highfield Avenue, Inverness, had handed over a cheque to the city’s Sheriff Court to keep her out of jail.
Cameron had previously pleaded guilty to forming a fraudulent scheme to obtain almost £4,000 worth of goods between February 1, 2017, and July 17, this year.
Sheriff Margaret Neilson deferred sentence several times to enable Cameron to find the funds. After being told by defence solicitor Laura-Jane MacFarlane that a cheque had been handed over, the Sheriff sentenced Cameron to 200 hours unpaid work, one year supervision and participation in a Woman’s Offender programme.
She had described the offence as “a gross breach of trust”.
Mrs MacFarlane said: “My client is deeply ashamed of this.”
Fiscal depute David Morton had earlier told the court that the victim was a 76-year-old woman with learning disabilities. He added that she was in the Cheshire Care Home in Ness Walk for over 20 years and Cameron was her key worker.
Mr Morton told the court that the bank details were entered online on the Tesco website.
When the card was declined for the first time, other staff launched an investigation.