An Inverness care worker who stole more than £4,000 from two vulnerable adults she was looking after has been jailed for 11 months.
Sheriff Margaret Neilson told Margaret Macdonald that the offence was “despicable” and “a gross breach of trust”.
Macdonald, 56, who had been remanded in custody following multiple failures to appear, had her sentence backdated to September 1.
Defence solicitor Neil Wilson fought to keep his client out of jail, saying: “She has a £5,000 inheritance from her father and is able to repay the money. She has had a taste of custody and she has not relished it.
“It has to be said there was a level of planning and thought that went into this but she is disgusted with herself and ashamed.”
Mr Wilson said his client had offered to plead guilty in November last year, but conceded there were “multiple failures to appear”.
He added: “She was burying her head in the sand and ultimately the court lost patience with her and remanded her. If she had turned up and pleaded guilty she would be in a far better place now.”
But Sheriff Neilson said: “Your two victims were vulnerable whom you were looking after and the theft took place over a 15-month period.
“Only a custodial sentence is appropriate.”
Inverness Sheriff Court had earlier been told that Macdonald, of Oldtown Road, admitted stealing £4,030 between January 7, 2014, and April 27, 2015, while she was employed by the Richmond Fellowship.
