A GWENT welfare officer was given a 12-month suspended sentence for stealing cash from residents with learning difficulties in her care.

Newport crown court heard that Geraldine White, of King Street, Blaneavon, would also have to pay back the £7,262 she stole when she worked in Llanyravon. The mother-of-two pleaded guilty to three counts of theft.

White, 40, was suspended from her job by the Gwent NHS Trust last year when irregularities were found in a bank account she was meant to be overseeing for a resident.

Police investigated and found thousands of pounds missing from the accounts of three residents. White admitted her guilt immediately.

The court heard that at the time of the offences White was experiencing marital difficulties, depression and that she was the sole earner in a family that included two children.

Judge Denyer QC said: "You have pleaded guilty to some very mean offences of stealing from vulnerable people and abusing your position of trust. This offence is so serious that it requires a custodial sentence.

"However, as a woman in your 40s, of previously impeccable character and with your family responsibilities and the difficulty of your circumstances, I am suspending the sentence of 12 months in prison for two years. If you behave yourself during that time that will be the end of the matter. "I am also ordering you to pay back the £7,262 you stole, in compensation."