A home help, faced with debts, stole £15,000 from her elderly employer, Selkirk Sheriff Court heard this week.
Teresa Brown, 44, of Howden Road, Jedburgh, was originally charged with stealing £60,000 from the 68-year-old, but pleaded guilty to an amended sum of £15,000.
The first offender stole the cash while working as a cleaner for the man at his Kirk Yetholm home between October 2011 and August 2012.
Prosecutor Tessa Bradley said the victim’s wife sustained a brain injury and required a carer.
She told the hearing that in 2011 the man inherited “a reasonably-substantial legacy”, adding: “He had funds, but wasn’t in the habit of regularly looking at them. He has mobility issues and the village does not have an ATM.”
Ms Bradley said the man used a Switch card to pay for most things.
“In 2011, his partner was taken into care, so the carer stopped visiting on a daily basis. He was fending for himself and she suggested he hire a home help and suggested the accused who she knew as someone well trusted in the village,” continued Ms Bradley.
The man hired Brown as a cleaner and, shortly after she began working for him, asked her to get him some shopping as she also had a part-time job in Sainsbury’s.
“He gave her his bank card and PIN number, and would get the card back the same day, with the items he had asked for. He also took her to take money out for her cleaning work, and stipulated the amount,” explained Ms Bradley.
When his partner returned home in July 2012, the carer resumed her work. In August, the wife told the carer she thought the accused had taken money and they looked for bank statements.
“They believed the accused had thrown them out during her cleaning duties, but they found one which showed a £300 withdrawal over three consecutive days,” said the prosecutor, adding: “They also noticed two transactions at Sainsbury’s – one for £40 and another for £115.”
The man believed the £40 could have been for shopping, but £115 was far more than he would ever have spent.
Police were contacted and further investigation of bank statements revealed a substantial sum of money missing.
Ms Bradley said the bank would not reimburse the victim as he had volunteered his card and PIN number.
Brown’s lawyer, Ed Hulme, said: “She had accumulated a number of debts and was using the card to pay for her own weekly shopping.”
She was released on bail for reports and will be sentenced at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on May 2.