St Helens care home worker stole grieving man's wedding ring

A "callous" care home worker who stole a wedding ring from a resident four days after his wife died and then pawned it has been jailed.

Emma Skinner, 42, of St Helens also stole a signet ring belonging to the victim's father, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

She took the rings in February 2022 while the victim was grieving the sudden death of his wife of 59 years.

Skinner, who pleaded guilty, was jailed for 18 months at Liverpool Crown Court.

The CPS said Skinner went into the victim's room during her shift at a care home in Maghull and thought he was asleep.

Skinner took the opportunity to take both rings from his hands, the CPS added.

However, the victim, who died nine months later, was not asleep and reported the rings were missing.

Skinner, of Thackray Road, had already sold the rings at a nearby pawnbrokers for £165 when she was arrested, the CPS said.

In a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing, the man's daughter said he had been "inconsolable" following the theft four days after his wife died.

She said she had never seen her father remove his wedding ring.

"It was the same with his father's signet ring which was all he had from his father.

"These two rings meant everything to him and at the time of her death, his wedding ring was the only tangible item dad had left to remind him of my mum."

She said she was "utterly horrified anybody could commit such a callous act towards a vulnerable man, particularly so soon after the loss of his wife".

"The fact the person responsible for this theft had actually assisted us in searching for the rings and knowing now that she had stolen them, made me feel sick to my stomach."

"I feel I have not yet grieved properly for either my mum or my dad, who sadly passed away himself just nine months later."

Jane Stacey, of the CPS, said Skinner had taken advantage of "the vulnerability of a person she was supposed to be caring for and left him traumatised".

"She pawned the rings and they have never been recovered," she added.

Det Insp Jay Halpin said: "Targeting vulnerable people and stealing from them while in a trusted position is the lowest of the low.

"Skinner was supposed to be a carer looking after people but instead used it as an opportunity to steal and sell this man's treasured possessions."

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