A CARER who stole valuable heirlooms from elderly and vulnerable people has been branded cynical, hard-hearted and cruel by a judge who jailed her for 15 months.

Barbara Garvey, of Severn Way, Darlington, was said to have systematically targeted her three victims – who paid for 24-hour care in their own homes – and breached their trust.

Last night, police said they believed there were further victims of Garvey’s crimes, who had yet to be identified.

The 60-year-old handed the items, including jewellery, silverware and war memorabilia, to small-time dealer Peter Clarke, who sold the items to a pawnbroker in Darlington.

A third defendant, Linda Naylor, covered for Clarke and attempted to fool the police, by providing a false receipt and claiming a gold necklace and watch strap taken during the thefts were hers.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, read from statements which described the “heartbreaking and devastating” effect of the thefts on the people in Garvey’s care and their families.

The victims, who all lived in the South of England, included an 86-year-old woman who was confined to a wheelchair and another woman with a degenerative brain condition.

The elderly husband of one victim was also targeted by Garvey, who failed to reveal a previous conviction for fraud in order to secure her housekeepers role with a locum agency.

Barristers for all three defendants described how they had been in ill-health and were ashamed and remorseful about their crimes.

Sentencing Garvey, who admitted three counts of theft, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, said: “Systematically, you stole items of considerable value and very high sentimental value.

“This was serious dishonesty against the most vulnerable victims and a gross breach of trust.

“From three victims, the total value of the items stolen was £12,000, but that figure pales into insignificance considering the way you went about this and the consequences to the victims and their families.

“It was a cynical, heardhearted, cruel series of acts.”

The judge said Clarke was Garvey’s regular fence, although he accepted his claim he did not know where the property had come from.

Clarke, of Hambleton Grove, Teesville, Middlesbrough, who admitted handling stolen goods and perverting the course of justice, was jailed for nine months.

The judge told him: “When you were rumbled you sought to cover your tracks and drew into your dishonest web your co-accused, Linda Naylor.”

Mrs Naylor, 59, of Coulthart Court, South Bank, Middlesbrough, who pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, was jailed for six weeks.

Detective Constable Mick Trodden, of Darlington, said he was pleased with the sentences and hoped that the families of the victims would take some satisfaction from them.

He also said the thefts were of much greater value than the prosecution was able to prove with an insurance company paying out in excess of £45,000 to one of the victims and her family.

Det Con Trodden added: “No doubt we believe there are other victims.”