Bognor care home worker who stole £96K from residents jailed

Sara Hornsey took her family on holiday, paid vet bills and purchased tickets to Brighton Pride with money she took from Albany Care Home in Bognor.

The 42-year-old stole £96,000 directly from the care home where she worked as an account manager and from residents' bank accounts.

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She targeted the most vulnerable, with one man losing £55,000 from his bank.

Care home worker Sara Hornsey

A former resident she stole from died before Hornsey admitted five counts of fraud against four clients and the West Sussex care home.

The residents had substantial sums of money withdrawn in cash using their bank cards, which Hornsey kept with her. Some even had benefits diverted.

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

The mother-of-two withdrew up to £800-a-week, which should have been used to cover residents' expenses.

Hornsey admitted five counts of fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Care home worker Sara Hornsey

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

Hornsey, 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 to 2019, shredding documents to cover her tracks.

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

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

Hornsey had falsified financial records and shredded documents, 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.”

Portsmouth Crown Court heard she targeted the most vulnerable residents at the private, 18-room care home, which specialises in caring for clients suffering from mental illnesses and dementia.

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,” he said. “All of them lacked the capacity to manage their finances.

“You took advantage of that situation.”

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

Albany Care Home declined to comment.