A care home manager admitted stealing from a vulnerable and elderly man.
Margaret Paddick took the man’s watch and kept it even after he realised she had taken it and asked for her to hand it back.
Paddick, 50, of 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, Perthshire, 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.
Fiscal depute Stuart Richardson told Perth Sheriff Court: “She was employed as a manager at the time in the care home and came into possession of the watch belonging to an elderly gentleman resident.”
Sheriff Fiona Tait deferred sentence for reports.
A source close to the case said: “This was a callous and cynical offence and done for nothing more than personal greed.
“When a series of thefts at the home came to light, Mrs Paddick was quickly identified as the most likely culprit because of her access to the residents.
“It seems she persuaded the man to give her the watch for some reason and had promised that she would give him it back.
“But she never did, and came up with a long list of excuses including accidentally putting it in a washing machine and then needing to get it repaired.
“Stealing from elderly and vulnerable people who you are supposed to be looking after really is the lowest of the low.”