Account manager from Littlehampton stole £96,000 from Bognor Regis care home and residents suffering dementia

Mum-of-two Sara Hornsey, 42, took more than £96,000 from Albany Care Home where she worked, which specialises in caring for clients suffering from mental illnesses and dementia, and from residents’ bank accounts.

Hornsey admitted five counts of fraud by abuse of position and will serve nine months of an 18 month sentence in custody.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard on Friday she targeted the most vulnerable, with one man losing £55,000 from his bank account.

Another former resident died before Hornsey admitted five counts of fraud against four clients and the care home.

All the residents had substantial sums of money withdrawn in cash using their own bank cards which Hornsey kept with her.

Some even had benefits diverted, the court heard.

She was withdrawing up to £800-a-week which should have been used to cover residents’ expenses and spent the money on a family holiday, vet bills and tickets to Brighton Pride.

The family of one victim said they would have used the money Hornsey stole to fund better health care for her, the court heard.

Hornsey told care home bosses the residents were confused if they asked about money.

Described as hard working and good with the clients, the former bookkeeper, from Littlehampton, had control of the care home business accounts and access to residents’ bank details.

She took money from them over a six year period from 2013-19, shredding documents and falsifying records to cover her tracks, the court heard.

She used residents’ bank cards to withdraw cash, only stopping when an audit found she made one, small mistake.

Following a lengthy police investigation, Nick Mather, for the Crown, said Hornsey had taken great care to cover her tracks and it had been impossible to establish exactly how much money she had stolen.

“It has been extremely difficult and taken much work to establish the extent of the misconduct,” he said.

She told police: “I would take the card and draw the money out when I needed it to the point where I just kept the card on me and it got worse and worse.”

Recorder James Newton-Price QC told Hornsey she had broken the trust placed in her by the family run care home and vulnerable residents.

“Victims were targeted on the basis of their vulnerability. All of them lacked the capacity to manage their finances. You took advantage of that situation,” he said.

Hornsey created new payment plans for residents to cover her fraud.

The final figure of £96,107 was a minimum figure and likely to be an underestimate, Recorder Newton-Price said.

Hornsey has troubles with anxiety and depression and showed signs of bipolar and emotionally unstable personality disorder, the court heard.

Albany Care Home declined to comment.