Maeve Bell jailed for stealing €45,000 from nursing-home resident

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Maeve Bell was jailed for 15 months for stealing €45,000 from a nursing-home resident. The proceedings were reported on 26 October 2016.

Bell pleaded guilty to 15 counts of stealing money at Elmhurst Nursing Home. The offences occurred between July 2013 and October 2014. She was the clinical manager at the home in Glasnevin, Dublin.

She stole €38,000 through requests for withdrawals from the resident’s comfort account. She also used the resident’s bank card to steal €7,000 from her Bank of Ireland account, taking additional cash when withdrawing money for the resident.

Bell told gardaí she intended to use the money for her mortgage and bills while on maternity leave. She said her house was being repossessed and her husband was not working. The report said she owed money to moneylenders and was trying to care for her two elderly parents.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Bell had acted out of financial distress and had a very difficult life, but said a jail sentence was necessary. He said she had been in a position of almost total power.

After sentencing, the judge expressed surprise that the resident remained out of pocket and had not been compensated by the nursing home. He asked the Garda Síochána to consider bringing the matter to a relevant ombudsman.

Highfield Healthcare said it would immediately pay the resident the full sum accepted by the Criminal Court as stolen. It said it had awaited the case to establish the sums involved and whether Bell could repay anything. The company apologised and said it had already revised its internal practices and procedures to prevent a similar incident.