Hospital worker who stole from vulnerable patients jailed
A hospital worker who repeatedly stole money from vulnerable elderly patients has been jailed for five months.
Shannon Mills admitted three charges of theft committed at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee over the course of a year.
Mills worked in Ward 5 at the hospital, a unit for elderly men suffering from conditions including dementia and Parkinson's disease.
A sheriff told the 21-year-old she had "breached the trust of people who are in the most vulnerable of situations".
Dundee Sheriff Court was told that the thefts took place while Mills was employed as a healthcare assistant and that none of the stolen £150 was recovered.
Mills carried out the thefts between June 2016 and July this year.
Her not guilty pleas to five other charges of theft from patients in the ward were accepted by prosecutors.
Solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin, defending, said it was "an extremely serious matter" and said Mills had saved up to repay the stolen money.
Sheriff George Way told Mills: "This was not an impulse, you did it three times over the space of a year.
"You breached the trust of people who are in the most vulnerable of situations.
"They are in hospital, they are worried about their families and you stole from them.
"I would be failing in my duty not to impose the most serious penalty to reflect that."