Edinburgh carer struck off for stealing money to pay household bills and buy clothes

An Edinburgh carer has been banned from the profession after stealing thousands of pounds from a service user.

Sarah Nelson was found to have used the client’s card to withdraw £3,400 in 23 separate transactions between September 2019 and October 2020 without permission.

The social care worker was employed as a personal assistant in Edinburgh at the time.

As well as the cash withdrawals, Nelson used the client’s card to top up her utilities account on five occasions, for a total of £75.

Nelson also purchased around £33 worth of clothing from Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing online with the service user’s money.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) said Nelson acted “dishonestly” in taking money, which she knew did not belong to her and then attempted to “conceal [her] wrongdoing” after the fact.

The watchdog said her actions “could have placed [the client] at risk of harm by depriving them of funds”.

The panel decided to strike Nelson from the care register, banning her from working in the industry.

The regulator said: “[Nelson’s] actions breached the trust placed in [her] by [the client], their family, [her] employer and the public,” the regulator said.

“[She] engaged in serious behaviour that involved a repeated course of action over several months. There appears to have been an element of planning involved in this behaviour as [she] must have taken steps to facilitate the theft of money.

“[She] took steps to remove financial information from [the client] in order to conceal her fraudulent activity. It is a pattern of incredibly serious behaviour which caused [the client] financial harm.”