A FORMER Wirral care home boss who stole almost £5,000 from the home and vulnerable residents was jailed for 12 months today.

Victoria Phillips stole the cash, which included donations, over a four year period and Judge Mark Brown told her, 'They were mean and nasty offences.

"You were stealing from elderly residents, individuals who could probably ill afford to lose what they did and people who the public would expect would be being care for properly.

"You as the manager had a duty to ensure that was the position but instead you abused your position taking the money."

He pointed out that the offences spanned a long period of time and involved breaching a high degree of trust.

Phillips, 38, a mother-of-two, of Eastern Avenue, Bromborough, had pleaded guilty to 12 theft offences between October 2009 and October last year.

Anthony O'Donohoe, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that she had been manager at the Alfreton Residential Home in Prenton home for four years until she resigned in October last year.

She was in control of the finances and accepted money handed directly to her and took money from the residents themselves for services which had not been provided.

In July staff anonymously told senior management concerns about recording residents money and an audit was carried out but it was put down to poor recording and file keeping and she was advised about that.

But in October staff again raised their concerns about financial abuse and Phillips was suspended. The safe was found to have very little money inside and financial sheets and staff files were missing.

Later that day her mother arrived at the home with the missing paperwork and it was found that it had been doctored and signatures of staff forged. Phillips resigned on October 29 and when interviewed by police denied dishonesty and put the discrepancies down to laziness in recording paperwork.

But she later admitted forging the signatures and indicated she had significant debts and poor money keeping skills. Mr O'Donohoe said that the thefts, which totalled £4,821, included just over £1,000 from one resident, a £2,000 donation, £200 thank you gifts and the rest comprised residents money for chiropody and hair dressing that was not provided.

John Ballam, defending, said that Phillips, who has no previous convictions, had acted out of character against a background of emotional and physical violence in a domestic context.

She had not been living a luxury lifestyle and it was a case "of need not greed," he said. It had started as borrowing some money from the home but it then snowballed.