A former carer who stole over thousands of pounds from an 80-year-old client during a months-long spending spree has been jailed for two years and nine months by the Royal Court.

Sandra Natalie Jardim De Sousa (44) was sentenced yesterday after a jury earlier found her guilty of four counts of larceny and eight counts of obtaining goods by false pretences.

The offences, committed between November 2024 and March 2025, involved De Sousa using the vulnerable woman’s debit card to withdraw cash and buy items for herself and her children.

The court heard that De Sousa, who held a managerial role at Aurum Home Care, was the woman’s primary carer after the pensioner returned home following a five-week stay in hospital.

The victim, who was housebound, entrusted De Sousa with her debit card so she could buy groceries and essential household items.

Instead, the defendant used the card to make repeated cash withdrawals and purchase a range of goods, including an Apple Watch, Apple AirPods, Charlotte Tilbury beauty products, a Tower juicer, a Beldray vacuum cleaner and groceries for herself.

In total, the jury convicted De Sousa of dishonesty offences worth £8,673.18.

The investigation began after Barclays Bank detected suspicious activity on the victim’s account and contacted Aurum Home Care in March 2025.

After the matter was reported to police, officers arrested De Sousa at her workplace, where the victim’s debit card was found in her purse.

Police later established that more than £10,000 had been withdrawn in cash from the victim’s account during the offending period, reducing its balance from £8,944.32 to just £19.36.

CCTV evidence captured De Sousa making several cash withdrawals and using the card for purchases.

When interviewed by police, De Sousa denied using the card for anything other than shopping for the victim.

During her trial, she accepted making some purchases but claimed they had been accidental, insisting she had mistakenly used her client’s card instead of her own because she had been rushed.

Jurors rejected her explanation, unanimously convicting her on all 12 counts after more than five hours of deliberations.

Following her conviction, De Sousa was granted two days to arrange care for her children before surrendering to police custody.