Care home administrator jailed for stealing £130,000 from workplace and resident

A care home administrator who stole £130,000 from the care home she worked for, including £7,100 from an 81-year-old resident, has been jailed for two years.

Tammy Foster paid herself significantly higher wages over a period of four years with money stolen from Oakview Care Home in Birmingham and one of its elderly residents.

Birmingham Crown Court heard Foster stole £7,100 from the 81-year-old male resident to pay fees which had already been covered by the local council.

Simon Phillips, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court said: "He was a trusting gentleman who had limited awareness of his financial situation and had no immediate family".

Foster also transferred £116,000 to her own account that she said had been owed to suppliers and paid herself £7,000 in extra wages.

When a supplier sent an email to the care home asking for money, Foster immediately went off sick and never returned.

'You could have stopped your offending'

At her sentencing, Foster who started working for the care home in 2010, was told by Recorder Edward Boydell: “There are significant parts of these offences which make them more serious.

"Your role at Oakview Care Home was a managerial role. You handled money and paid suppliers.

“These were significant amounts of money capable of bringing down a business and changing the life of a victim. The damage you might have done could have threatened the residents. I understand there were 72.

“You could have stopped your offending and told your employer at any time. You did not do so effectively until these offences were going to be uncovered by others.”

A spokesperson for the Oakview Care Home said: “We welcome the sentence that was passed down in this case.

"The person involved, who was employed as a general administrator, used a position of trust to steal a significant sum from the business as well as to defraud one of our residents. We are a caring organisation and this severely affected everyone who works here, whose sole concern is the welfare the people we care for.

“We have reviewed all our processes and procedures in light of this case to ensure there could be no repeat.”