Olivia Hannah stole from her elderly clients after finding out she was pregnant (Picture: Liverpool Echo)
A teenage carer who stole thousands of pounds from her elderly clients has been spared jail.
19-year-old Olivia Hannah rooted through John and Christina Shwenn’s bedroom drawers and stole at least £2,000 they had put aside to save up for a 70th wedding anniversary celebration.
Hannah went to the couple’s home on September 2 of last year as an employee of Warrington-based Premier Care. She waited for 91-year-old John to leave with his son for an appointment before hunting for the cash, while hard-of-hearing Christina remained in the house but was none the wiser.
John realised the money was missing when he got home, and said he had £6,000 stashed away.
Jessica Pridding, prosecuting, told Warrington combined court: ‘He returned within the hour and went to check on his wife. He looked in the bedroom where she was sat in a chair turned away from the drawers.
‘The complainant noticed his bed had been made, which didn’t usually happen. This prompted him to check the drawers, at which point he has seen £6,000 had been taken.’
She pleaded guilty to theft (Picture: Liverpool Echo)
Mr Shwenn’s son contacted Premier Care, and a manager visited Hannah. She was ‘reluctant’ to talk until she was told the police had been called, at which point she produced a bundle of £2,000, stolen from the Shwenns’ house.
She was dismissed from her job, and when police searched her home days later they didn’t find the missing £4,000. No suspicious deposits had been made into Hannah’s bank accounts.
The court agreed £4,000 remained missing – but Hannah maintained she had only taken the £2,000, which she returned.
This was disputed by the Crown, but her claims were accepted at a hearing after magistrates decided the amount stolen would not make a ‘material difference’ to her sentence.
In a statement, Mr Shwenn said the £6,000 had been for a family cruise celebrating his and Christina’s platinum wedding anniversary.
He said: ‘It is very a hurtful thing when you befriend someone and treat them like a family member and they betray you and lie to your face. It’s unforgiveable. This has completely ruined my trust in most people.’
David Robb, defending, said: ‘The person in front of you is a young lady who made an absolutely foolish catastrophic error in her life. She went to work that day, she was stressed out because of the recent knowledge of becoming pregnant.
‘She was wondering how she was going to make ends meet. When she saw, sticking out of the drawer, a wedge of money, she took that money. It was one bundle, it had an elastic band around it, and it seems to be the bundle that she has given back.
‘She vows not to repeat the mistake she made on September 2. Obviously a catastrophic one as far as she is concerned, and she’s ashamed of herself for taking the amount that she did.’
Sentencing Hannah – who pleaded guilty to theft – magistrate Robin Bradshaw said: ‘You have admitted the theft of £2,000 from a victim who you were a carer for. It was a significant breach of trust because it was in their own home. We have heard the large impact on the victim and his family
‘It clearly crosses the custody threshold. Our consideration is if we impose an immediate custodial sentence, or suspend it.
‘We will suspend it, so you will not go to prison today. But it is a serious offence and the consequences are serious as well. You have no previous convictions and it’s a shame you have lost your good character.’
He sentenced Hannah to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and 20 rehabilitation days. He added that his ‘hands were tied’ regarding the amount of compensation he could award to the victims, as the court had accepted Hannah’s plea, and ordered her to pay £1,000 for the psychological harm caused.
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