Trusted key worker ripped off resident

SARAH HARGRAVE

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OWNERS of a care home said they felt "betrayed" and "abused" after discovering that an employee had stolen more than £34,000 from a vulnerable resident.

Sarah Hargrave (34) was sentenced to 12 months in prison after exploiting her position as an administrator of Anbridge Care Home, in Oldham, to access the bank card and PIN of 73-year-old widower David Litherland.

Over a period of several months, the mother-of-two, from Royton, used the card to access Mr Litherland's bank account.

She spent his savings on a second-hand Mini, a holiday, a luxury Radley handbag and even a tortoise.

Stroke

Her crimes were only exposed when the bank wrote to the home, on Herbert Street, to say Mr Litherland, who had previously suffered a stroke, was overdrawn.

Hargrave, who began work at the home in 2014 and also acted as Mr Litherland's key worker, apologised after confessing, but then blamed her former husband, only entering a guilty plea on the day her trial had been due to start.

Sentencing her at Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Timothy Mort said he would be failing the public if he did not imprison Hargrave, who is currently pregnant with her third child.

Anbridge House proprietor Charles Jones said: "We are relieved that this is over and we can begin to put it behind us.

"We felt betrayed by what she did, it is disgusting.

"We were completely taken in by her - she had a big personality and was well liked by everyone. We trusted her."

Mr Jones, who has run the home with his wife Sally for more than 13 years, said that they employed Hargrave as their first ever administrator after struggling to keep on top of the work at the home.

After she began work, she became Mr Litherland's key worker, one of few members who could access his wallet and bank cards.

It was in December 2014 that she started to make multiple withdrawals of large amounts of cash and used the card on shopping trips.

As administrator, Hargrave monitored the care home's mail closely and it was only while she was on holiday in August last year that Mr Jones opened a letter from Mr Litherland's bank which stated that he was overdrawn.

Shocked

Mr Jones said: "We were shocked but didn't believe it was Sarah until there was no other explanation.

"It is only when you look back you see how she manipulated us all - keeping control of the mail and becoming David's key worker.

"What she did upset us all, including the residents and relatives who trusted her as well," he added.

"In a way, we all felt abused."

Mr Litherland's bank repaid the stolen money.

Mr Jones added that after the care home fired Hargrave, they were unwilling to hire a replacement.

This meant that they struggled with the additional workload in the run-up to an inspection by the Care Quality Commission, which saw them rated "requires improvement" earlier this year.

Mr Jones continued: "An administrator has to be someone you trust, but we found it hard to trust anyone after our experience.

"It had an impact on the home and meant our administration had fallen behind ­- which affected our CQC inspection.

"However, we have now employed a very good administrator and have put systems in place to ensure something like this can never happen again.

"We are looking forward to putting it all behind us."

Hargrave was jailed for 12 months after she admitted fraud by abuse of position.