THE manager of a care home who fleeced a vulnerable resident out of his TV and car has been struck off the medical register.

Susan Tregonning talked the man into selling his new £1,000 television to her for just £300 in May 2013 at Abbey Care Village in Scorton, near Catterick, North Yorkshire.

Two months later she offered to buy his £1,200 car, which he was unable to drive following major heart surgery, but never paid the £800 promised.

Tregonning was later convicted of two counts of fraud by false representation at Northallerton Magistrates' Court and was given a 12 week sentence suspended for a year and ordered to pay £1,100 compensation to her victim.

The man, referred to as Resident A, had mental and physical health issues and arrived at the home in 2012.

Shortly after Tregonning went on sick leave in August, 2013, he complained and reported the transactions to police.

The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) heard Tregonning persuaded Resident A to sell her his £993 television for £300, telling him not to tell anyone about the deal.

She later asked to buy his car for £800, which he had paid £1,200 for two months earlier. She typed up an agreement saying she would pay £200 in monthly instalments and took the car but nothing was paid.

Tregonning was dismissed after a disciplinary hearing on October 1, 2013, and the matter was referred to the NMC.

In a police interview she admitted failing to safeguard Resident A's financial interests and acting inappropriately

She was convicted of two charges of fraud by abuse of position last September.

"The panel noted that Ms Tregonning's dishonesty occurred on more than one occasion and involved an exceptionally vulnerable patient," said NMC panel chairman, Stuart Gray.

"Ms Tregonning's actions in this regard were not passive; she took the initiative to persuade Patient A to part with his TV and car.

"Her behaviour fell far below the standards that would be expected of a registered nurse, and fell far below the standards of propriety which would be expected of ordinary members of the public.

"By taking advantage of Resident A for her own gain, Ms Tregonning's actions amounted to conduct of a kind that her colleagues in the nursing profession, and the wider public, would reasonably regard as being deplorable."

Her fitness to practise was found to be impaired by the conviction and she was struck off.