Caregiver stole from elderly clients

A former Tauranga caregiver stole $1260 worth of cheques and cash from two elderly clients to pay for her wedding.

Sharon Faye Lawrence, 43, from Hairini, who earlier pleaded guilty to 14 charges of using stolen cheques, five charges of taking cheques plus one charge of theft, appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday.

Lawrence was sentenced to 150 community work and order to pay $1260 reparation at $20 per week.

Her sentence comes two weeks after Mount Maunganui housewife Theresa Mary Zajonskowski, 50, was jailed for two years and three months and ordered to pay $20,000 reparation for stealing from an elderly woman.

Zajonskowski had befriended her neighbour Margaret Collingwood, a pensioner with failing eyesight and the first stages of Alzheimer's disease, posing as her caregiver and friend as she slowly stole her life savings by writing 100 fraudulent cheques.

Yesterday, the court heard Lawrence began working for the Salvation Army on August 29 as a caregiver for two elderly clients, which involved going to their homes to do housework.

On January 6 this year Lawrence went into the bedroom of one of her female victims and removed a cheque from the woman's chequebook stored in a draw and placed it in her handbag.

Later that same day she wrote out the cheque for $68.83, signed her victim's name and deposited it into her own BNZ account.

Between January 17 and April 18, Lawrence stole a further 13 cheques from her two elderly victims, forging their names and withdrawing cash.

Another five cheques were taken from one client but Lawrence told police she destroyed them because she could not bring herself to use them.

She also stole at least $300 cash from one victim's handbag between March and April.

Defence lawyer John Holmes told Judge Christopher Harding that his client, who had no prior convictions, had offended during a period of significant financial pressure when her husband had just arrived in the country and struggled to find work.

"She has no previous experience or history of such offences and made an early guilty plea. She has offered to pay the money back over time and suggest community work is appropriate in this instance."

Judge Harding told Lawrence that while she may be remorseful, her offending was clearly premeditated and she only stopped when her crimes were detected by her former employer.

"You needed the money to pay for your wedding, but your two victims needed the money to pay for their daily expenses and are now out of pocket. This was mean, opportunist- type offending at its worst, abhorrent by right- thinking members of society.

"Let me make it clear if there is any repeat of this type of offending you can expect to see the inside of jail cell. This sort of behaviour is entirely unacceptable."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES