A YOUNG nursing care assistant stole £120 from elderly residents at a Westbury-on-Trym care home.

Harvey Haigh was caught pilfering cash from vulnerable pensioners at St Monica Trust. Haigh secretly took the money from their wallets and purses while they were out of their rooms, leaving residents – one 89 years old – out of pocket and upset.

The 24-year-old was caught red-handed after a suspicious manager rigged up a CCTV camera in one of the victim’s rooms and planted notes in his wallet.

Haigh narrowly avoided jail after admitting to magistrates that he had stolen from residents on six separate occasions. Instead he was handed a 12-week sentence, suspended for 12 months, ordered to pay the money back and told to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard that Haigh, of Pensfield Park, Brentry, had worked at The Garden House care home at St Monica Trust in Cote Lane since March last year.

Between February 21 and 25, 89-year-old Mona Lane noticed that £20 had gone from her purse. Police investigated, but it came to nothing.

Prosecuting, Jeremy Oliver said: “Several months later Bryan Gorvett moved in. He kept money in two wallets in his bedside table, and began to suspect that cash was being taken from it.

“Between October 21 and November 7 Mr Gorvett reported to staff that money had been taken on four separate occasions.”

The care home’s manager, Elizabeth Leaman, set up CCTV in Mr Gorvett’s room and put a marked bank note in his wallet. On November 16 it was stolen.

Staff were interviewed and Haigh denied having anything to do with the theft. But he was arrested and shown footage of him taking the money. He was searched and the marked £20 was found in his pocket.

In interview he said he was walking past the room, saw it was empty so took the money.

At Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday he admitted stealing money from Ms Lane and the £20 Ms Leaman had planted, and asked for four other instances of stealing from Mr Gorvett to be taken into account.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Leaman said: “I am devastated by what has happened and he has put everyone in a vulnerable position.

“I am particularly upset by the fact that he was able to sit and deny the allegations when he must have known that he was putting his colleagues under suspicion.

“I am also very upset that he could demonstrate such an abuse of the trust of very vulnerable and trusting residents in his care.”

Defending, Mark Linehan said there was no clear explanation as to why Haigh had stolen the relatively small amounts of money.

Mr Linehan said Haigh had been under extreme pressure after his mother had a nervous breakdown following a divorce, and that he had also taken on the care of his grandfather after he was diagnosed with cancer.

He told the court that he had had a bright future ahead of him as a carer, but that his “spur of the moment” actions had ruined that.