Care assistant who stole bank cards from dying pensioner to buy sweets jailed for nine months

A Birmingham healthcare assistant who stole bank cards from a dying hospital patient has been jailed for nine months, after using the money to buy sweets and clothes.

Rebecca Ellis, 49, has been found guilty of theft and fraud after stealing from a patient in her care.

The victim, Frederick Bromley, is a retired police officer and had been admitted to hospital after receiving palliative care for terminal cancer and suffering a dislocated hip.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how Ellis was assigned to the victim to look after him, and the prosecutor said "It would have been clear to the defendant that he was receiving palliative care."

His daughter had put two Nationwide bank cards in a bag along with other items and she later realised they were not where she had left them.Ellis, of Arden Road in Smethwick, used one of the cards, contactlessly, to buy sweets from WH Smith on February 20 last year.

In total, Ellis spent £532 of Mr Bromley's money, with some of her purchases being caught on CCTV.

In a video played to the court - recorded before his death - Mr Bromley said: "I could not move and was in extreme pain. I am disgusted with the way she has treated me."

In a witness statement Mr Bromley's daughter, Anna Marie Bromley, said her father was "extremely vulnerable" at the time and that she felt guilt about what had happened.