Charity worker embezzled nearly £30,000 from vulnerable and disabled victims

A woman has been sentenced for stealing nearly £30,000 from vulnerable and disabled care home residents.

Margaret Burnett, 69, embezzled the money from five residents while employed as a team leader at a Leonard Cheshire home in Edinburgh. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said her role at the supported accommodation facility gave her access to a safe and locked cabinet which stored their bank cards.

The residents' finances were controlled by staff and all transactions were officially logged in a cash book. Burnett's criminal behaviour came to light in September 2016 after the Royal Bank of Scotland flagged up cashpoint withdrawals totalling several hundred pounds from one resident's account.

Officials from the charity then alerted police after discovering several withdrawals of between £100 and £300 which had not been recorded in logbooks or the residents' diaries. A court heard how Burnett used the bank card of one victim while he was in hospital and "physically unable to withdraw the cash".

COPFS said one of the victims, who has since died, had cerebral palsy while another suffered from multiple sclerosis. Neil Almond, interim procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said: "Margaret Burnett committed an egregious betrayal of trust.

"These residents depended on her to play a part in their financial arrangements. But she flagrantly abused her position to use their money for her own benefit." Read more from Sky News:Charlie Kirk suspect appears in court - as 'I'm sorry' text revealedMadeleine McCann suspect released after rape sentence Burnett's embezzlement took place between January 2014 and August 2016, with around £29,900 stolen.

COPFS said she had been employed at the charity for 13 years. She was suspended and then dismissed from her job before being arrested in November 2019.

Burnett last month pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzlement. She returned to Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, where she was made subject of a 12-month supervision order and six-month restriction of liberty order (RLO).

Burnett was additionally ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to each of her victims that remain alive. Mr Almond added: "Let the public be assured that we take such financial criminality extremely seriously.

"Those who commit this type of offending will be dealt with robustly by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.".