The matron of a nursing home who stole almost £1 million from an elderly couple she was caring for has been told to pay back part of the cash or return to jail.

Elizabeth Ayrey, 54, swindled Edward and Dorothy Marke, who both had dementia, while they were patients at The Gables nursing home in Ifield, Crawley.

She was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail in January last year after she admitted 12 charges of theft totalling more than £880,000.

Ayrey, formerly of Rusper Road, Crawley, was granted early release from prison in January this year on condition she wears an electronic tag.

Yesterday she was back in court for a confiscation hearing relating to £116,000 she had given away in gifts to relatives and friends or spent on jewellery.

Police applied to Lewes Crown Court for her to be ordered to repay the money.

Ayrey contested the application and said she could not pay it back.

She said the majority of the stolen money was given to relatives and friends as gifts and they could not repay her.

Judge Guy Anthony ordered her to pay back £35,000 within two years. If she breaches the order she faces 12 months in jail.

Civil proceedings are currently taking place in the High Court, instigated by the Court of Protection, to trace the rest of the money.

So far £283,661 has been recovered from the sale of property.

The court heard Ayrey spent lavishly on clothes, jewellery and holidays after she started duping Mr and Mrs Marke out of their nest egg.

The couple, both in their 80s, were too mentally ill to know what was happening to their savings.

Mr Marke, who has since died, had made his money from showbusiness. He was part of the legal team which looked after merchandising for The Beatles.

He liked Ayrey and handed over hundreds of thousands of pounds to her.

During her trial, the court heard she should have refused the offers. Instead she started opening bank accounts and spending the money on herself, her family and friends.

She spent up to £20,000 on a holiday in Malaysia, £50,000 on jewellery, including a £10,500 diamond ring, £27,000 on a car and bought herself a nursing home in Lincolnshire.

She is believed to have given away Cartier bangles and Gucci earrings.

She even paid £18,000 to an author to write the story of her own life, called Angel Mail.

The story, which told of her rise from humble nurse in Malaysia to matron in Sussex, has not been published.

A further £40,000 went to her two daughters to pay off debts and buy a flat in Grand Parade, Brighton.

She enjoyed luxurious shopping trips to Harrods and expensive perfume.

By the time she appeared in court yesterday, the high life appeared to be over.

Ayrey, who now lives with her husband on benefits, was dressed in jeans, white trainers and a blue hooded anorak. She wore a wedding ring, small gold stud earrings and a watch.

Ayrey, struck off from working as a nurse in January by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, made no comment in court and left with her husband, Anthony.

After the hearing Detective Constable David West said officers had been trying to trace the money since Ayrey's arrest in May 2001.

He said: "It is a fundamental principle of English law that no one should benefit from their crimes.

"We are fairly confident we can account for the money she stole but it remains to be seen how much of the money is recoverable. Every effort will be made."