A CALLOUS carer who defrauded thousands of pounds from three elderly women she looked after has been spared jail.

Dawn Riddell, pictured, of Perth Road, Christchurch, stole £2,000 from each of her victims to fund her severe online gambling habit, Bournemouth Crown Court was told.

Sadie Rizzo, prosecuting, said the 58-year-old wrote herself cheques using the pensioners’ cheque books before squandering away the cash on sites such as jackpotjoy.com.

Riddell, who worked as a carer for Home Instead, which provides care to elderly people living in their own homes, would spend up to £400 a day on gambling websites, the court heard.

The victims, aged 87, 92 and 94, all lived alone and two suffered from dementia, Ms Rizzo said.

92-year-old Audrey Copping discovered Riddell had taken the money from her account after checking her bank statements. When she phoned the care company to confront the thief, Riddell said: “Audrey I’m so sorry. I’m going to resign. Don’t get the police involved. I was desperate,” the court was told.

Tim Bradbury, mitigating, said the three victims would each be compensated by the banks and would not be at a loss because of Riddell’s crimes.

Riddell, who pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud, built up severe debts from her gambling addiction, the court was told.

After her husband discovered the extent of her problem he shut down the bank account she had been using. But the mother-of-three set up another account in her own name and took out payday loans from Wonga.com and Cash Converters to continue to fund her addiction, Mr Bradbury said.

He told Judge Samuel Wiggs Riddell’s brother had put forward £2,000 as compensation on her behalf. Judge Johnson later ordered for the money to split three ways between the victims or the banks involved, depending on whether the victims had already been compensated.

Handing the mother-of-three a twelve month prison sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Wiggs said: “Your employers trusted you to go into the homes of these and other elderly people who were vulnerable.

“The elderly people themselves trusted those who employed you and you breached that trust.”

A £2,000 compensation order was made and Riddell, who had no previous convictions, was given a curfew permitting her from leaving her home between 6pm and 6am.

Six references were obtained

FOLLOWING the sentencing Home Instead said safeguarding its clients was the firm’s number one priority.
The statement said: “We deeply regret the distress the situation has caused our clients, their families and our staff. As is company policy for all our carers, Ms Riddell underwent a CRB (now a DBS check), which was received clear of previous criminal activity. We also sought and received three professional and three personal references for her. This is also standard company policy which goes beyond the minimum standard laid down by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). These were also clear.”