Care worker denies stealing £10,000 from vulnerable client A CARE worker stole more than £10,000 from a vulnerable adult he was supposed to be looking after, a court heard.
Prosecutors at Liverpool Crown Court said Paul Tierney, 56, stole as much as £10,270 from his client Brian Tsao, who has severe learning difficulties and required care 24 hours-a-day, over a two-year period.
But Tierney, of Garswood Street, Dingle, denied theft saying he was just a bad bookkeeper.Suspicions were first raised over Tierney’s actions when a new manager Peter Clarke undertook a regular audit of Mr Tsao’s payment book and receipts at his home in Birkenhead.
Anthony O’Donohoe, prosecuting, told the court: “Peter Clarke noticed a number of discrepancies including two £200 withdrawals from machines in Liverpool.
“When he mentioned these to Mr Tierney he replied: ‘I can’t believe I have made a mistake like that’.”
When Mr Clarke, a development manager for the charity Options, asked for older accounts Tierney said would be more mistakes and then offered to resign, the court heard.
Mr O’Donohoe added: “The grand total of unaccounted for monies is £15,355 though in fairness to the defendant during the course of the investigation a number of receipts were found to be unaccounted for.
“The prosecution are unable to say precisely how much has been stolen from Brian Tsao but it is in the region of £10,000. It is the prosecution’s case that Paul Tierney as team leader had sole access to Brian Tsao’s pin number and bank card between the time he was appointed team leader and September 2008.”
Mr Tierney, the court heard, later failed to attend disciplinary meetings and told managers he had been advised “to go on the sick” by a legal friend, an accusation he denies. He eventually resigned in April 2009.
Phil Astbury, defending, said that Tierney never offered to resign and that from the outset claimed the only thing he had done wrong was fail to keep proper records.
In an interview with police he said: “The biggest mistake I made is doing things in my own time.
“Well maybe the crime was not keeping receipts.
“I would rather cut my arm off than take a penny from Brian.”
(Proceeding)
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