Published: Friday, 3rd March 2017

The former NHS nurse pleaded guilty to stealing in excess of £13,000.

Sharon Vitalis was jailed for 28 months at Woolwich Crown Court on 1 March 2017.

Ms Vitalis stole the money from eight elderly patients in her care whilst working as a nurse at the Queen Marys Hospital in Sidcup, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich and also whilst working as a carer at the Time Court Nursing Home in Charlton and the Sidcup Nursing Home, Sidcup.

The fraud came to light when the relatives of a Greenwich resident contacted the Royal Borough's Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud team to report that their elderly mother may have had over £600 taken from her bank account whilst receiving temporary care at the Time Court Nursing Home. The relatives stated that they had reported the matter to both the nursing home and the police but as the bank had refunded the money the matter would not be investigated further.

Given that the Royal Borough had several of its elderly residents receiving care at the nursing home it was evident that further investigation was needed to ensure that there were no further victims of theft.

Investigators obtained copies of bank statements belonging to the elderly resident and identified three transactions totalling £630.95 that the family stated that had not been made by their mother.

One payment made for £140.95 in August 2015 was a debit card transaction to a clothes store; however checks confirmed the eight items ordered online were never collected.

Also identified were seven debit card payments in July 2015 to an online betting company totalling £490.00. Contact was made with the betting company and it was identified that any winnings from the bets would go back to a bank account held by Sharon Vitalis. A check with the nursing home identified that Ms Vitalis, aged 44 from Kale Road, Erith was currently working there and had been employed with them during July and August 2015.

Copies of Ms Vitalis' bank statements were obtained and it confirmed that she had received the online winnings into her bank account, however closer analysis of her transactions raised further concerns as to the source of several cheque payments made into her account.

Copies of the cheques paid into her account were obtained and from this it was identified that several of them had purportedly been made payable to Ms Vitalis from elderly residents that had also been in her care from January 2013 to August 2015. The cheques ranged from £1,000 to £2,500.

Contact was made with the families of all of the potential victims and it was identified that five of the eight elderly residents had passed away and only one was able to provide a witness statement regarding the theft of their money. The majority of the families indicated that when they had reconciled their relative's bank accounts they had identified some erroneous cheque payments but were unable to get any explanation as to what had happened from the bank and each had since been reimbursed by the bank.

Enquiries also found that not only had Ms Vitalis stolen pages from the elderly residents cheque books and used their debit cards to purchase items, but she had also opened various online betting accounts and shopping accounts using their details and had goods delivered to a drop address in Abbey Wood. In one case it was also identified that Ms Vitalis had undertaken two cashpoint transactions totalling £670 after stealing an elderly resident's bank card and accessing her PIN number from her personal items that had been put away for safe keeping.

The evidence gathered by the Royal Borough against Ms Vitalis was presented to the police and on 3 February 2016 Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud officers accompanied them to the home of Ms Vitalis where she was arrested and her property searched.

Ms Vitalis was taken to Bexleyheath police station and gave a "no comment" interview. In the following few months two further interviews were undertaken at the police station to present new evidence from the victims' families, however once again she gave a "no comment" response.

Ms Vitalis was charged with 14 counts of fraud totalling £13,052.88 and was summonsed to appear at Bexley Magistrates Court on 14 December 2016. Ms Vitalis attended and pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

On 1 March 2017 Ms Vitalis appeared at Woolwich Crown Court in front of Her Honour Judge Robinson. Also in attendance were several families of the victims.

The Court heard how the only victim who could provide a statement in this matter recalled how the only time she left her bank cards unattended was when she slept at night and that Ms Vitalis had been sitting on her bed as she fell asleep. Ms Vitalis stole a total of £670. In another instance, one family recalled how their mother had become distressed when she was unable to pay for her groceries after Ms Vitalis had written herself a cheque for £2,500 and the debit card transaction had been refused in the shop.

Her Honour Judge Robinson stated that although Ms Vitalis had provided the Court with some mitigation she was not going to give her any credit for it. Ms Vitalis was sentenced to 28 months in prison.

'A despicable crime'

Councillor Maureen O'Mara, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, said: "This is a despicable crime and one wouldn't expect anyone, let alone a qualified nurse and carer to steal from the elderly in this way. Her actions are unbelievable and I can only hope that the victims and their family seek some assurance that Ms Vitalis is now behind bars.

"Praise has to go to the concerned family that reported this matter to us and to our Internal Audit and Anti-Fraud team who went way and beyond to bring Ms Vitalis to justice when others seemed content to let the thefts go unchallenged."