A FORMER care worker who fleeced a pensioner out of more than £21,000 collapsed as a judge told her she would be jailed.

Paramedics were called to Nottingham Crown Court after Gail McNiffe, 51, had a fit.

She admitted stealing £21,393 from 88-year-old wheelchair-bound Anne Giggins, who she looked after while working at Ernhale Lodge Care Home, Arnold.

Mrs Giggins had a stroke after her husband died in January 2006 and was diagnosed with severe senile dementia in December.

McNiffe took her shopping and used Mrs Giggins' bank card to get money for her from a bank machine.

She also used the card to get money for herself between August and December 2006.

Mrs Giggins was contacted by NatWest at the end of 2006 and told she had exceeded her overdraft and all her money was gone.

Emma Cutts, prosecuting, said: "Mrs Giggins is now unable to give evidence because she has severe dementia.

"But in an earlier statement she said the incident had been extremely upsetting for her, and the stress and upset had an extreme effect on her health."

Sentencing McNiffe, Recorder Edward Garnier QC said: "What you did amounted to a gross breach of trust and it was based upon not only your access to this elderly lady who could not look after herself but also on her vulnerability, recently widowed, living in a home."

McNiffe, of Bestwood Park Drive, Arnold, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.