A CARER from Neyland, who admitted using a man’s credit card 19 times without his permission, has avoided jail.
Jacqueline Toom, 46, of Queen Elizabeth Avenue, previously admitted falsely representing that she had the authority to use an MBNA credit card belonging to Philip Evans, 80, for whom she was caring, at an earlier Swansea Crown Court hearing.
At that hearing, Janet Gedrych, defending, said Toom had spent about £1,400 in total belonging to Mr Evans. Miss Gedrych added that Toom had been convicted last year of “a set of offences of a similar nature”.
Judge Peter Heywood said he would sentence Toom after a probation officer had prepared a report into her background. But he warned her that a prison sentence could be the outcome. Toom was granted bail in the meantime.
At last Friday’s August 19 sentencing, Toom was jailed for four months, suspended for 12 months.
She was also ordered to complete a 20 day rehabilitation requirement and pay a victim of crime surcharge of £80.
In 2015 Toom appeared in BBC Wales’ investigative TV show Week In Week Out.
During the episode titled “No Time to Care”, she spoke on camera to detail pressures placed on care workers. She told how it was impossible to travel between care appointments in the time allowed and carers were expected to be in two places at once.
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