A “GREEDY” care worker has been ordered to pay back £21,000 she stole from a vulnerable elderly man from the sale of her home.

Alison Field was said to be ready to go straight to jail for stealing from the man she was looking after but was spared an immediate sentence at Worcester Crown Court.

Michael Conry, prosecuting, told the court the 50-year-old was employed by Worcestershire County Council in 2009 after 17 years working in a nursing home. She started working for the man - who was in his eighties - as part of a team of carers.

Mr Conry said the man had been a "highly talented engineer" but was having memory problems and sometimes could not remember the PIN number for his debit card on shopping trips.

Field was trusted with the card but she used it on 77 separate occasions to take out a total of £21,300 from his account for her own use over a two year period between August, 2013 and August, 2015.

"Another carer noticed the account was dropping significantly and reported it," Mr Conry said.

Investigations showed up to £300 was being taken out at a time and in one nine day period, Field took out £1,150. The man was very distressed when he was told about the thefts, Mr Conry told the court.

Field pleaded guilty in January at Kidderminster magistrates’ court to four theft charges and was sent to crown court for sentence.

Laura Culley, defending, said Field had lost her good name and her reputation and any chance of getting a similar job in the future.

"She took an opportunity to get some money and then carried on through greed," Miss Culley said. "She was not able to stop and it spiralled into taking a large amount of money from someone who was very vulnerable."

Field arrived in court with a travel case and Miss Culley said she was fully prepared to go straight to jail. She had enlisted the help of a friend to sell her house in Rednal Mill Lane, Rednal, Birmingham, to repay the money.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright made confiscation and compensation orders. He said Field was of previous good character and the fact that she was ready to go to jail showed her genuine remorse.

"Someone employed to look after such an elderly and vulnerable person who breaches the trust in such a gross way will almost inevitably end up with a prison sentence," he said.

But he said Field would serve only a short time at the taxpayers' expense and it would not act as a deterrent so he had decided to give her a more appropriate sentence of 16 months suspended for two years. She was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work over 12 months and to pay costs of £425.

If the house is not sold within three months, an application will have to be made to the court for an extension of Field faces an additional sentence of 12 months.