A HOUSE-BOUND pensioner has told of her devastation after a trusted carer used her bank card details to steal almost £6,000 of her savings.

The 78-year-old woman had even previously lent greedy Nicola Brimage £50 and in a statement to Liverpool Crown Court told how if she needed a loan all Brimage had to do was ask.

NatWest bank has refunded the victim all her lost money but a judge was told that the defendant, who wiped away tears during the hearing today, still has the items she bought for her new home, many described as luxuries.

32-year-old Brimage, of Gautby Road, Bidston, Wirral, pleaded guilty to stealing £5,948.

Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, told the court that the victim suffers from Parkinson’s Disease and is housebound and relied on a care agency to provide carers to look after her.

Brimage was one of the carers and the pensioner trusted her to get money from ATMs for shopping and bring cash back. She gave her her bank card and pin number.

After a period of time she was notified by her bank that she was in her overdraft and when she told her son he began inquiries and created a spread sheet which showed £5,948 had gone missing between February 22 and June 14 last year.

Transactions had been made on Amazon and eBay without his mum’s permission, said Mr Blasbery. “The defendant was the only other person who had access to her bank card.”

The police began investigations and inquiries were made with Paypal, eBay and Amazon about purchases and Brimage was arrested on September 8.

Her home was searched and items found matched some of those purchased from eBay. When interviewed she said the OAP would ask her to get cash from ATMs for her and claimed if she had used it online it had been a mistake.

But when confronted with the evidence she admitted theft and said she had not realised how much was involved.

“She said she had moved into a new house and wanted nice things to furnish it. She said the temptation of having access to the woman’s bank car was too much to resist.”

Mr Blasbery said the items she had bought were general household items some of them luxury items.

In an impact statement the victim made in January she said she was still bed-bound and had to rely on carers.

She stated she “placed a lot of trust in Nicola, liked her, respected her and appreciated the things she had done for her. When she found out she was stealing all this money from her she was devastated.

“She thought she could trust her and the other carers and was embarrassed that she had been taken for a fool by someone who took advantage of her vulnerability.

“Sometimes my carers are the only people I see in a day and since this happened I have been left feeling worried that I should not trust them anymore.”

The victim said she had once lent her £50 when she said she was short of cash. “Instead of appreciating the gesture she took advantage of her and stolen over 300 times.

“If she needed money all she had to do was to ask him, she did not need to steal from me. I understand carers are not well paid, I think the job they do is amazing and I always appreciate everything my carers have done for me.

“I think taking advantage of elderly and vulnerable people is cruel and was low as it gets. One day Nicola will be old and vulnerable too and I hope she doesn’t find herself a victim of a younger person taking advantage of her and stealing from her.

“I really hope Nicola has learnt an important lesson from this and will change her ways in the future.”

Ben Berkson, defending, said that it was conceded that it was “a greedy and callous crime.”

She had never been in trouble before and had spent her adult life caring for the vulnerable and those needing care.

“It was committed essentially while on auto pilot following a very low point in her life.”

She had been downtrodden, controlled and abused by her previous long term partner which made her feel worthless.”

Mr Berkson said it was not a sophisticated offence and was easy to trace back to her.

“She is medically and mentally under the cosh and has been referred for therapy. She was formally diagnosed in August 2019 with anxiety and depression and prescribed medication.”

He said that she also has a degenerative spinal disease for which she is also receiving medication.

She is currently unemployed but has applied for various vacancies. “She treasured her job and it has been a horrible loss for her. She was prepared to do whatever it took to repay the money and she feels awful.”

The judge, Recorder Michael Blakey, said that she had “helped herself” to the pensioner’s money and it only stopped by virtue of her son and the bank.

“Virtually none of the goods you actually needed, some of them luxury items yet this poor lady was out of pocket by £5,948.

“It was a breach of that lady’s trust, it was a disgraceful way to behave.”

The judge said there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and sentenced her to 12 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months. He also ordered her to carry out 15 rehabilitation activity days and 80 hours unpaid work.