A care home administrator helped herself to money from the account of a vulnerable resident as well as from cash savings funds for outings and staff bonuses, a court heard.

Lindsey Gibbon was only one of two people, along with the manager, with access to the safe containing residents’ bank cards at Peterlee Care Home.

Durham Crown Court was told Gibbon repeatedly dipped into both sources of funds taking varying sums of money between October 2022 and May 2023.

Following a query from Durham County Council about the possibility of bank cards having been cloned, the manager’s suspicions arose when she failed to find the company bank card and contacted Gibbon, who was off work on compassionate leave.

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Eugene Cross, prosecuting, said when Gibbon failed to respond to several messages, the manager contacted police.

Following the arrival of the bank statement for the vulnerable resident, irregularities were spotted with some transactions as the purchases and sums involved were not recognised by a family member who assisted with his finances.

On checking, a total of £4,050-worth of transactions over an eight-month period could not be accounted for, and when the manager looked in the safe, the resident’s bank card was not present.

Mr Cross said the card, along with others, was supposed to be kept in the safe in the locked admin office, for which only Gibbon and the manager had access.

He said the victim of those fraudulent transactions, who was ailing at the time, has since died.

Police inquiries showed Gibbon on CCTV footage at banks and shops when the card was used illicitly by her.

An internal audit was then carried out at the home and various other sums of money were found to be missing from collections for residents’ outings, staff bonuses and other fundraising.

Mr Cross said the missing funds totalled £3,059 from four separate 'pots' of money.

The manager said she felt betrayed by the defendant as not only the staff, but all 44 residents had effectively been cheated of funds by her actions.

Gibbon, 38, of Eden Hill Road, Peterlee, admitted charges of fraud by false representation and theft by an employee when she appeared before magistrates last month.

The case was sent to be sentenced at the crown court, where the defendant’s counsel, Jennifer Coxon, said she fully accepted her wrongdoing.

Miss Coxon said it was difficult to understand how someone of previous good character could resort to such offending.

Asked by Judge Jo Kidd about the defendant’s betting habits, Miss Coxon said she did not feel she had a gambling addiction, and no longer takes part in any online gaming, having rid herself of those sites, “to free herself from temptation”.

Miss Coxon said the defendant is now on benefits and has suffered with stress and anxiety, but she hopes to find a new job to enable her to pay back what she has taken.

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Judge Kidd told Gibbon: “You should be ashamed of your sustained targeting both of a vulnerable individual whose private banking information you stole and then stole from on a number of occasions.

“You knew how vulnerable he was.

“He had no way to provide for himself and had it not been for an inquiry about the potential for cards which had been cloned it’s difficult to know if you would have continued to steal from your victim.

“He was subject of a legal order as he was incapable of looking after himself.

“It was despicable.

“The other money you stole covered a multitude of victims.

“Each of those people who lived in that care home, as well as your colleagues, you effectively stole their belongings.

“You took what belonged to them.

“The number of victims, although they have each only lost a relatively small amount, are rightly enraged at your thoroughly dishonest, selfish behaviour.”

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Judge Kidd told Gibbon if not for the fact that she has no previous convictions she would be going, “down the steps today.”

She added: “I had in mind sending you to prison. You have come within a hair’s breadth of going to prison.”

Passing a 20-month sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Kidd ordered Gibbon to complete 200-hours’ unpaid work, take part in 30 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service, and pay compensation of £2,700, at the rate of £150-per-month for the next 18 months.

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The judge said the money is to be shared pro-rata between the residents and staff, whose money was taken by Gibbon.

As Gibbon was about to leave the dock, Judge Kidd told her: “I can’t stress to you how close you have come to going to prison today.

“If you come back before me for failing to complete any aspect of the order you will go to prison.”