A care worker who stole thousands from a vulnerable wheelchair-user and was given a suspended sentence has been spared jail the second time after breaching her sentence twice.  

Anthony Fort, 61 inform the police after hearing Ruth Fort, 47 confess to her crime in her sleep, Ruth stole £7,220 from the woman she was caring for and spent it on a family holiday to Mexico. Her husband, Anthony, began to get suspicious when his wife started spending large amounts of money. He finally went to the police when he heard his wife talking in her sleep and saw a debit card, which belonged to the care home resident, in her purse.

Anthony Fort said: “It was more of an instinct really, at first. But when I found the debit card in her purse, I just knew. It was heart-breaking.

“I loved Ruth deeply, but I could not ignore what she had done. It was abhorrent to me that she could steal from a vulnerable person and I had to report her.”

In February last year, she was given a suspended prison sentence of 16 months on the condition that she attended drug rehabilitation sessions.

At the time the judge praised her husband for his “commendable” actions and said: “It must have been a very difficult thing to do.”

The judge spoke of the “revulsion the public feels for individuals in positions of authority and responsibility who take advantage of vulnerable members of our community for financial gain.”

She told Fort: “The temptation here turned into greed, and you should be thoroughly ashamed of your behaviour”.

Fort appeared before Liverpool Crown Court this month after she breached her sentence by twice not attending her drug rehabilitation sessions, and for missing a meeting with her probation officer.

The judge agreed to give her one last chance and imposed a six-week curfew on her.

Then in December 2018, Anthony Fort was woken by his wife talking in her sleep.

“Ruth was mumbling about money,” he said, “and when I woke up, I saw the purse on the floor with a few notes fallen out.”

He saw the vulnerable woman’s debit card in the purse and “it all clicked into place.”

Lawyer John Keane, who defended Fort in court, said she was a vulnerable member of society and that her life had broken down as a result of the case.

He told the court that there were drug users who call at her home and ring her, and that she has a 15-year-old daughter who depends on her.

At this month’s hearing, Judge Brian Cummings said he would give Fort one last chance.