Melanie Harris: Devon carer guilty of stealing £75,000 from elderly and vulnerable patient

A carer from North Devon has been convicted of spending £75,000 of a vulnerable pensioner's savings on shopping trips and expensive haircuts.

Melanie Harris was entrusted to look after the finances of Edward Carter but used his debit card to plunder his savings. She was supposed to be helping care for the vulnerable elderly man but instead, the court heard, she helped herself to his money.

When police investigated the accounts of Ted Carter he should have had £76,000 but instead there was just £1300 left. It took a jury at Exeter Crown Court just an hour to find Melanie Harris guilty of fraud.

Police described Melanie Harris's crimes as "particularly heartless".

Harris told police that Mr Carter from Bideford had given her permission to use his cards for her own shopping and that she paid him back or bought treats instead but when investigators looked through the transactions they found evidence of spending at a home decoration shop, multiple visits to a Barnstaple hairdresser and items bought from other shops such as fashion retailer Fat Face as well as online retailer Amazon.

The company for which she was a care team leader were alerted by another member of staff who spotted unusual items paid for out of the Carter's bank account.

Mr Carter never saw the woman he trusted for four years appear in court as the cerebral palsy sufferer died in hospital in May this year.

Melanie Harris will return to Exeter Crown Court on January 15th for her sentence which is most likely to be a prison term.