North Yorkshire carer jailed for stealing £46k from vulnerable man

A care worker who stole more than £46,000 from a vulnerable client she befriended at work has been jailed for three years.

Alana Squire, 37, withdrew cash from the victim’s bank account over a three-year period before being caught.

PC Michael McVay said she was guilty of a “sickening abuse of trust”.

Squire, of Brough with St Giles, in Catterick, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position.

She first met the victim, a man in his 60s from the Richmondshire area of North Yorkshire, through the care company she worked for and then began visiting him when she was not at work.

The court heard the man initially wanted to lend Squire money because he felt sorry for her, according to North Yorkshire Police.

However, he became concerned about the amount of money being taken from his account and noticed it was not being repaid.

He thought she had taken about £14,000.

But he feared if he stopped Squire from using his bank card, she would stop visiting him and leave him isolated, police said.

When the matter was investigated after Squire left the care company in December 2020 officers discovered she had stolen £46,751 in total.

PC McVay, said: “This was a sickening abuse of trust in which Squire simply helped herself to very significant sums of money.

“Even when she was confronted with the evidence, she seemed unremorseful and denied she’d done anything wrong.

“The manipulative way she committed this crime was awful. Offences like this can have a truly devastating impact on victims, whose so-called friend is actually there to exploit their vulnerability.”

Squire was also made the subject of a 10-year restraining order.