A CALLOUS carer who stole £2,600 from a vulnerable 93-year-old woman was jailed for eight months today, Tuesday.

Lyndsay Murphy secretly used her victim's bank cards to withdraw amounts on nine occasions ranging from £200 to £500.

Judge Denis Watson QC told her, "This was a significant and repeated abuse of trust. She was an extremely vulnerable victim."

33-year-old Murphy, of Oteley Avenue, Bromborough, pleaded guilty to theft.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Murphy was working for the Community Caring agency and had visited the home of the woman three times a week since August 2013.

Kevin Slack, prosecuting, said that in January 24 last year the victim's son was shocked to notice her bank balance had reduced significantly. A bank statement arrived the next month which revealed cash had been withdrawn throughout the previous month at a bank in Eastham.

He checked the logbook at his mum's address and found this typically coincided with days when Murphy visited her. He contacted the agency and Murphy was suspended pending an investigation.

The police were also informed and when officers checked CCTV from the bank in Eastham they found it showed Murphy making the withdrawals.

When initially quizzed she denied theft, claiming she had withdrawn the money on behalf of the victim. After further enquiries she was arrested at home and when cautioned she said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Murphy sobbed in the dock as an impact statement from the victim's son was read in which he said the family was "disgusted" by her behaviour.

"Our family feels totally betrayed by Lyndsay Murphy as we trusted her to care for our mother.

"At a time in her life when she deserved to be treated with dignity and respect because of her age and vulnerability, she has found herself having to deal with a stressful situation. She was ashamed she was taken advantage of by someone she liked and trusted." 

The court heard that she was moved into a care home after her health later deteriorated.

Ben Jones, defending, said Murphy, who has no previous convictions, looks after her emotionally dependant 14-year-old daughter, who would have to go into care if she was jailed.

"What she cannot cope with is the thought of what her own conduct may do to her daughter, said Mr Jones, who added that she may lose her home.

Judge Watson said that the accepted that the real impact of a prison sentence was likely to fall upon Murphy's daughter.

But he continued that the the effect on the victim is " incalculable because as her health diminished, the confidence she had in anyone to care for her, knowing she had been taken advantage of, was completely destroyed. 

"I have no doubt at all that her ability to trust strangers never returned."