A Perthshire care home manager who admitted stealing from a vulnerable and elderly man has been ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work.
Margaret Paddick took the man’s watch and kept it even after his son realised she had taken it and asked for her to hand it back.
Paddick, 50, Leslie Court, Perth, was also charged with stealing money and jewellery from a number of other residents of the care home she was running.
She admitted stealing a watch at the Balhousie Methven Care Home in Methven between March 12 and November 14 2012.
Paddick had faced three further charges relating to the theft of money, folders and gold bracelets, but the Crown accepted her not guilty pleas to those.
At Perth Sheriff Court yesterday, solicitor David Sinclair said his client had found herself in debt and suffering from anxiety, which was exacerbated by her money troubles.
He said: “She had the watch in her possession due to her role as deputy manager. A couple of days later she went off on sick leave.”
He said she planned to return the item, which was valued at £50, but never got around to it.
Sheriff William Wood heard that around six months after it went missing the watch was found in her home. The man had died in the meantime, but his son identified the watch.
He stated that the offence represented a significant breach of trust.
A source close to the case said: “This was a callous and cynical offence and done for nothing more than personal greed.”