A CARER took advantage of her role looking after vulnerable adults, using their funds to buy expensive goods for herself and handing them cheap or second-hand replacements.

Valerie Cummings passed off poor second-hand items as new, and altered shop receipts to claim inflated amounts.

Durham Crown Court heard that in one case she bought a liquid crystal display television, for £499, but kept it for herself and gave the resident it was bought for her own second-hand set.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said Cummings claimed the full £499 from the finance officer at the home, but when police investigated the case, in April last year, the new television was found in her home.

Mr Dryden said when Cummings was interviewed she claimed there had been a mistake, and inadvertently took the wrong set back to the care home.

In another case, she presented a store receipt to the finance officer for £133 for a wrist watch and some crystal she said she bought for another resident.

Checks with the store revealed the receipt was altered and the goods presented to the resident were not genuine, or even in correct packaging.

In another case, she claimed £64.76 for compact discs and toiletries bought from a Darlington store for another resident, in November 2005, but inquiries revealed the shop had closed down and the goods handed over were not genuine.

Mr Dryden said Cummings admitted submitting the receipts, but had no explanation why they were falsified.

Forty-one-year-old Cummings, of Shelley Terrace, Chilton, County Durham, yesterday admitted three counts of obtaining property by deception.

The court heard she had no previous convictions, but had been suspended as a care support worker by Durham County Council, and will lose her job following her guilty pleas.

Judge Tony Lancaster told Cummings: "You took advantage of people who were among the most vulnerable in society.

"They were mean offences, with some level of planning.

"But you've lost your good character and, after today, you will lose your job. In my view, you're not a danger to the public, so I won't send you to prison."

He placed her on 12 months' probation and ordered her to pay £100 and £50 compensation to two residents. The court heard the liquid crystal display television has been given to the rightful owner.