Iolanda Fernandes Gomes (48) took advantage of the elderly woman’s condition to secretly write cheques and pay them into her own account.
Gomes, who appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Police legal adviser Lauren Hallam told the court how the woman, who had lived in Jersey for 22 years after leaving Madeira, had written three cheques – two of £3,000 and one of £4,000.
She added that the offences were only discovered by one of the victim’s friends who had offered to help her manage her finances and check her bank statements. And she said that when the victim was interviewed she did not remember giving money to the defendant.
‘During the investigation information was received from the agency she was employed by that she had been given safeguarding training, including training around financial abuse.
‘When asked about training, the defendant said she had classroom training and understood she should not be taking money from anyone.’
Ms Hallam explained that with the three cheques, the defendant, who was working for an agency contracted by the Health Department, had bought clothes, food and drink, a birthday present and had also put down a deposit on a new car, using a loan to pay off the remainder. The vehicle has been seized.
Following the death of her father, who lived in Madeira, Gomes also used the money to fund funeral expenses and flights to the Portuguese island.
Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, described her client’s offending as ‘opportunistic’ but said that Gomes felt terrible for taking advantage of someone she had cared for.
And she added her client had been offered work at a town hotel if she was spared jail and had been assessed at a very low risk of reoffending.
‘The social inquiry report touches on how my client has had a tough childhood but does not touch on how she finds it extremely difficult to express her emotions,’ she said.
‘She bottles up things and had not dealt with two family bereavements in the last two years which is why she may have behaved in this way.
‘She has not behaved in this way before and the majority of money was spent on her family.’
Advocate Binnie then asked Mrs Shaw to impose a sentence of community service along with a financial penalty.
She also argued against deportation and said her client had lived in Jersey for over 22 years, had family locally and regarded the Island as her home.
However, Mrs Shaw, said that the offences were very serious.
‘The victim is very vulnerable and you held a position of trust.
‘In your case, you were employed there because she could not look after herself and you were a carer.
‘The woman had problems with alcohol and also dementia and you took advantage of her vulnerability and stole from her. When she was interviewed by police, it was clear she had no recollection and no capacity. This was a very vulnerable person.’
Mrs Shaw added that a custodial sentence would have been inevitable, even if the victim was not mentally impaired.
She said: ‘This was a repeated breach of trust, it happened over a number of months and you had plenty of time to think about it but you went back and did it again.’
She also recommended the defendant for deportation, and said that the seriousness of her offending outweighed her links to Jersey.
