A carer who abused her position to steal £17,500 from vulnerable patients in her care to fund her gambling addiction has been spared jail.
Laura Hancock, 32, of Ramsgate, Kent, tricked her clients at Seeds Care into handing over their life savings and misused a company credit card to pocket thousands.
Seeds Care, in Kent, helps adults under the age of 65 who suffer from mental health conditions and learning disabilities.
Hancock, who was the service manager at the facility, targeted six people who she demanded withdraw cash to pay their rent but instead blew the money on gambling.
The carer took one vulnerable victim to a cash point to withdraw money under the guise of paying his rent, but he later discovered there were no payments to make and he had been swindled to the tune of £3,980.
Laura Hancock (pictured) tricked her clients into handing over their savings and misused a company credit card to pocket over £17,500
Hancock, who targeted six clients, all of whom had learning disabilities, also lied about buying clients furniture, before pocketing the money families sent over.
She also took cash from savings tins and withdrew funds using the company credit card.
Staff were mislead into taking residents to cashpoints and delivering envelopes filled with cash to the thief’s desk.
Another one of her victims had known Hancock for five years.
He told Canterbury Crown Court: ‘She took loads of cash out of my savings tin. It had taken me a very long time to save up that money – a very, very long time.
‘I knew there was something fishy about her from the beginning – I knew it!
‘When it all came out that she had been stealing from people it made me feel angry, upset, really annoyed.
‘She literally betrayed me. It makes me think I don’t want to trust anyone anymore.
‘For what she’s done she should have gone straight to jail. It feels to me that she’s getting away with this and it’s not fair.’
The fraud and thefts took place over a period of 18 months between March 2020 and September 2021. But afterHancock’s crimes were uncovered, she confessed to bosses before being turned into police.
Seeds Care director Angela Rankin said: ‘When Laura told me I was overcome with anger and grief.
‘What she has done is despicable and unimaginable – these people trusted her and their sense of trust was completely broken, as is mine. I’ll never forgive you Laura for what you did, never.’
Fellow director, Zara Reyes, said for a time there were fears among staff that the service would shut.
She said: ‘We have had to have difficult conversations with service users and their families and we have faced damage to our reputation, which we have worked so hard to build.
Hancock pleaded guilty to five counts of theft and three counts of fraud by abuse of position at Canterbury Crown Court (pictured)
‘It caused uncertainty among staff, as they were worried that Seeds might close down.
‘We have now reimbursed all the service users at our business at our own cost, but Laura’s breach of trust continues to make me doubt people.’
At Canterbury Crown Court, Hancock pleaded guilty to five counts of theft and three counts of fraud by abuse of position.
Prosecutor Kiera Vinall said: ‘Concerns were initially raised by an employee after she realised that rent money was being taken by Ms Hancock.
‘It was also noticed that savings tins were missing from their place in the main office.
‘Hancock then admitted that she had been taking the money due to a gambling addiction.’
Mitigating, defence barrister Nargees Choudhury attributed Hancock’s behaviour to her struggles with addiction.
He said: ‘All this stems from her gambling, which started when she was 16.
‘She has engaged with a number of different approaches to try to tackle the issue, including hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy.
‘She never thought that she would hit rock bottom, but now she feels like that when she goes to work every day as a cleaner. The only word that comes to mind is tragic.’
Judge James Taylor KC took issue with this sympathetic portrayal of the defendant. e said: ‘Actually, the only word that comes to mind is disgraceful.’
Ms Choudhury went on to explain that Hancock is the sole caregiver for her mother, who is dying of cancer.
He said: ‘Her deepest regret would be if her mother dies while she’s in prison – she would have to live with that forever.’
The barrister added that Hancock, who had kept her addiction a secret, now is receiving the support of friends and family who are aware of her habit.
The court heard that since the scandal, she has not gambled at all.
Judge Taylor added: ‘This may have been a financial crime for you, but its impact is far beyond financial – victims lost their sense of trust.
‘But far from wash their hands of the responsibility to the vulnerable adults that you stole from, what this company did was reimburse their clients.
‘In 25 years of prosecuting, defending and being a judge in this court, I have not heard of a company behaving so responsibly, and it should be commended for that.’
Hancock has started a rehab course and has sought help from gamblers anonymous.
She received a two year sentence suspended for two years and must complete 250 hours of unpaid work in the community and 20 days of rehabilitation.
Ms Reyes questioned why her former employee had not been sent straight to jail.
She said: ‘We are disappointed about the suspended sentence due to the high vulnerability of the people we support and the fact that as the registered manager, Laura was in a position of the highest trust.
‘We hope this outcome is enough of a deterrent for her not to do the same thing to others in the future, and after two years of waiting would like to focus now on moving forward to a brighter future for all.’
