'Despicable' mum stole thousands from dementia patients while working as a carer

A carer “despicably” entered the home of a dementia patient and heartlessly piffled her bank card while she was suspended for stealing money from another vulnerable woman.

Faye Collins, 25, appeared at Liverpool Crown in relation to two counts of fraud from when she worked as a carer.

James Rae, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was employed as a walk to work carer by Best Care Liverpool in October 2019. Her role was to look after elderly people, many of them vulnerable with conditions such as dementia, at their home addresses.

Mr Rae said between February 25 and March 18, 2020, Collins stole £4,360 over eight separate withdrawals from one of the patients she cared for.

On March 14, her daughter-in-law used the woman's card to do her mother-in-law's weekly shopping.

However, when she tried to take £60 out of the ATM it was declined. Mr Rae said the reality was the £60 would have taken the card past its daily withdrawal allowance of £500.

The court was told an investigation by the bank found there had been regular withdrawals on the card and each one had taken place when the defendant attended.

The defendant had access to the card to buy the woman cigarettes and brandy, but was never given the PIN code and told to use tap and pay.

The pin was written in the victim's notebook, but when her family investigated they found the page had been ripped out. When the defendant reported the card missing, she used the replacement card to make a new withdrawal.

Investigations found CCTV evidence of the defendant using the card and the following day she was suspended from her job by Best Care Liverpool.

The victim's bank, Halifax were satisfied the withdrawals were fraudulent so reimbursed the money, but the defendant had benefited from the money for a period of nearly a month.

In May of the same year, the defendant, who was still suspended from her job, visited the home of a dementia patient who she had previously "cared" for. The woman's neighbours raised the alarm after they observed the out-of-hours visits from Collins, noting her unusual behaviour and the fact she was not wearing a uniform.

Mr Rae said between May 12 and May 16 Collins had entered that victim's house using a key taken from the lock box. She had taken the grandmother's card and gone to ATMs and made a number of withdrawals to the amount of £880.

Due to the suspicious behaviour, the combination on the lock box was changed, meaning the defendant could not gain entry when she returned on May 17.

Collins, of Hare Croft, West Derby, was interviewed in late May 2020.

Mr Rae, prosecuting, said Collins had "abused her power and targeted vulnerability".

He added "faith and trust was put in her" by the victims and their families and she had betrayed her position. He added the second victim sadly died in December 2021.

The defendant was found unanimously guilty by a jury in June of this year in the face of "overwhelming evidence", according to Mr Rae. The defendant stole a total of £5,240.

In mitigation, defending barrister Cheryl Mottram said her client was a young woman with no previous convictions.

Ms Mottram said her client has two young children, aged three and five, and had been separated from them while she had been held in prison following the guilty verdict.

However, his Honour Judge David Swinnerton disagreed, branding the mum's actions as "despicable".

He said Collins, who told police she had no money problems, had "stolen the money out of sheer greed".

He said she had been "thoroughly dishonest" throughout the police investigation, had continued to deny her involvement and tried to blame her colleagues.

He sentenced Collins to 24 months in prison for the offence against the first, and six months for the second. He also ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

Collins, who appeared via video link from HMP Styal wearing glasses and a Disney t-shirt, was jailed for 30 months in total.