Warminster carer sentenced for fraud of care home resident with dementia

A twenty-one year old Warminster care home worker has pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud, which occurred during her employment at Longbridge Deverill House.

Wiltshire Police confirm they had been contacted in January regarding “erroneous financial transactions” found in the bank account of a care home resident diagnosed with dementia, which led them to discover that carer Gemma Ballard had been abusing the 80 year old’s bank account in order to source goods over the Internet.

Appearing at North West Wiltshire Magistrates Court this week, Miss Ballard was ordered to pay compensation of £372.60, as well as serving a twelve-month community order.

Detective sergeant Martin McDonagh, of the Safeguarding Adults Investigation Team (SAIT), spoke of the need to protect vulnerable people from this kind of financial abuse:

“The victim in this case was elderly and suffered from dementia, and as such depended entirely upon those individuals entrusted to provide her with care.

“Miss Ballard abused this trust, with the repercussions of these actions not only being felt by the victim, but also by her family who have an implicit expectation that their loved ones are afforded appropriate standards of care and dignity at all times. Indeed in this investigation a Victim Impact Statement was obtained from the victim’s family to reinforce the impact this crime has had upon them.

“This form of offending has no place in society and is entirely unacceptable. Wiltshire Police are committed to ensuring that allegations received are subject to rigorous investigation and, where necessary, appropriate action progressed against those responsible.”