A SUPPORT worker at a home for mentally handicapped adults told a court her manager asked her to cash a Giro cheque from the benefit book of a former resident.

Jeanette Merrington said three weeks after the resident was transferred to another unit, her manager, Linda Polson, told her the £228 was "back money" owed to the home.

Mrs Merrington was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of 46-year-old Ms Polson, of Trinity Courtyard, Newcastle, who denies the theft of the £228.

Durham Crown Court was told Ms Polson managed the privately-run home in Canonsfield Close, Hall Farm, Sunderland, for Team Healthcare, under contract to the city's social services department.

When the resident concerned was moved to another unit, after "trashing" her room in March last year, her benefit book was returned to the Department of Social Security.

But Mrs Merrington said she was handed a single signed cheque from the book by Ms Polson and told to cash it, three weeks later.

She said she was told to buy wallpaper with the money to decorate the former resident's room, and to pass the rest to Ms Polson.

She did this the following day, handing over about £195.

Under cross-examination by Ms Polson's barrister, John Evans, Mrs Merrington agreed she was "angry" at being arrested herself in the subsequent police inquiry over the cheque, but denied inventing the story.

The trial continues today.