Miss-Delectable

Jail for carer who stole £16k from deaf pensioner - Beverley Guardian

A support worker who stole more than £16,000 from a deaf pensioner in Sheffield has been jailed for two-and-a-half years by a judge who described her actions as "totally base and about as bad as it gets".

Judge Michael Murphy at Sheffield Crown Court heard Sharon Grocock, 42, was treated "almost as a daughter" by 77-year-old Doreen Saville when she cared for her while working for the charity Shelter.

But he told her the series of thefts was "a dreadful betrayal of the trust deposed in you".

The court was told Grocock took the cash from Miss Saville's account for a range of things including paying for blinds and carpets at her home.

James Baird, defending, said his client was "devastated" by the effects of her actions. He said she was now bankrupt but her friends and family had collected together £10,000 to pay back part of the stolen cash to her victim.

Sentencing Grocock, Judge Murphy told her: "Doreen Saville trusted you but not only that, she liked you. You were her friend, she thought. Indeed, it was more than that, she treated you, and you assumed the role almost of, a daughter."

Judge Murphy went on: "This was deliberate, calculated and, I have to say, despicable offence that was a dreadful betrayal of the trust deposed in you. To treat a vulnerable old lady in this way is truly base and about as bad as it gets."

The judge also ordered the defendant to pay her victim £10,000 within 14 days.

White-haired Miss Saville sat in the well of the court in her wheelchair listening to the proceedings with the help of a hearing device.

Grocock, of Bay Tree Avenue, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, admitted eight counts of theft at a previous hearing.

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