A CARER who plundered thousands of pounds from a pensioner she looked after was behind bars last night.

Gemma Turley, 31, sobbed as she was jailed for eight months at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

The mother-of-three, from Norton, near Stockton, admitted theft between April and November last year.

Turley got the job working for the 72-year-old through her mother, who also helped with her shopping, cleaning and hygiene.

Both women had access to the pensioner’s bank card and account, prosecutor Emma Atkinson said.

It was not until Turley’s mother noticed the savings had dwindled, that she had to confront her daughter and explain to the woman and her family, while also going to the police.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said she had been put in an “invidious” position, and she was well-regarded by the victim and her son.

In an impact statement, the son said the £10,000 theft had left them devastated, and unable to fund a conversion at the house to create a wet room for his mother as she cannot get a bath or a shower, and is chair and bed-bound.

“My parents were hard-working, but money had been short and they often struggled and went without,” he added.

“So, I was impressed they had managed to save any money at all.

“I am appalled and deeply saddened that someone in a position of trust could take their life savings.”

Gary Wood, mitigating, said Turley had been “put upon” by two people to take the money, and there was no evidence that she had spent lavishly on herself.

Mr Wood said: “The defendant says she recognises that hers isn’t a case of duress. She could have gone to the police station.

“There are lots of other things she could have done, and didn’t.”

A letter from her GP to the judge, told of Turley’s long-term anxiety, depression, and anorexia, while Mr Wood said she had also been misusing prescription drugs since her arrest.

Turley, of Hury Road, Norton, was told by the judge: “It is regrettable you didn’t have the strength of character to resist pressures from other people.

“There were all manner of ways you could have avoided dipping into the savings of a woman you were working for.

“What I can’t ignore is the repeated times . . . you must have understood every time you made a withdrawal, you were doing something very wrong.”