A care home deputy manager that stole a five-figure sum from residents in “a calculated and sustained crime” has been given a two-year jail term after a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court last week.
Fifty-five-year-old Denise Nichols of Rotherham defrauded the residents by taking sizeable sums of money from their bank accounts on numerous occasions over a five-year period between 2008 and 2013. The court heard that Nichols stole £15,000 from 23 residents and always used false records to cover her lawbreaking activities.
Judge Peter Kelson QC said upon delivering the verdict: “The real mischief of what you have done is your gross breach of trust. The system relies upon honest people in your position and for five years and eight months, you were dishonest.”
The fraud was finally uncovered late last year following a routine audit at the Wensley Street Care Home she managed in South Yorkshire. Nichols pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud by abuse of position earlier this month and she was subsequently jailed for 24 months.
South Yorkshire Det Con Jenny Elsey added: “This was a flagrant abuse of trust. Nichols was in a position where she had access to the bank accounts of vulnerable residents and these people were oblivious to the fact they were being duped.”
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