East Cleveland carer stole £10,000 from elderly clients

Janet Spradbury targeted the four elderly victims and used their banking details to steal from their accounts while looking after them.

The 56-year-old raided almost £8,500 out of the bank account of her first victim before turning her attention to three more vulnerable pensioners, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Caroline McGurk, prosecuting, said the defendant’s offending had significantly affected her victims and left them feeling betrayed by their hardworking carer after she raided their accounts.

The court heard how Spradbury stole the largest sum from her first victim before stealing a further £800 from three others over a very short period of time last summer.

Her victims spoke of the betrayal of trust when their impact statements were read to the judge.

The first victim said her dementia-suffering husband got his briefcase out of the loft so that he could go back to work after they had ‘lost all of the money’ and was preparing to move to the Midlands to be near her son.

She said: “She was worthy of an Oscar for her acting, she was the perfect carer. If you asked me to choose which carer I liked best I would have said ‘Janet’.

“At the time, she ruined my life, I was terrified of getting bank statements.”

The second victim said she was ‘devastated and in disbelief’ as in her eyes she was a good carer and couldn’t believe that she had abused her trust.

The daughter of the third victim, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, said the family had been left disgusted after the carer helped herself to her mother’s bank account.

The final victim said she felt ‘crushed and disappointed’ by the defendant’s actions because she trusted her implicitly.

Janet Spradbury (Image: Cleveland Police)

Spradbury, of Limes Crescent, Marske, east Cleveland, pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud by false representation between April 2022 and August 2023.

Christopher Morrison, mitigating, said his client’s fall from grace had severely impacted her life and her sense of shame was significant after she started stealing to fund her gambling addiction.

“She wishes to say she is sorry to all concerned,” he said. “She acknowledges what she has done and how badly she has failed everybody.

“The level of shame she is facing, not only from the people she used to work with but also from members of her own family, can only be described as a mortification.

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“She understands who she has let down.”

Judge Chris Smith describing the offending as when he sentenced her to 15 months in custody.

He said: “This is a position that comes with a considerable amount of trust placed in you, you were visiting vulnerable elderly people in their homes to help them.

“They regarded you as a very good carer. They trusted you and you betrayed that trust.”