A daughter says she is “not letting it go” after a carer stole from her elderly mother.

Elaine Pearse says she is deeply concerned about how vulnerable people are safeguarded after a convicted thief was allowed to care for her now 90-year-old mother May Heighway.

Tracy Swinburn has now been sentenced for stealing £100 but Ms Pearse says she wants to see changes made so that other vulnerable people do not fall victim in the same way.

Ms Pearse said: “I would like to say that the legal system is flawed if people like Tracy with previous convictions for theft related incidents can be cleared for a DBS check after 11 years from conviction.

“It does not give confidence in a system that is supposed to be there to safeguard vulnerable people.”

The Bolton News: Tracy SwinbourneTracy Swinbourne (Image: Newsquest)

Swinburne, 58 of Windermere Road, Farnworth, already had two previous convictions, both for dishonesty offences, when she was employed to care for Ms Pearse’s mother.

She would go on to steal at least £100 from her elderly client after secretly switching off cameras that had been installed in case of accidental falls.

But Swinbourne was caught out by a second set of cameras Ms Pearse had installed after having become suspicious of her.

She claimed that she had stolen the money after coming under pressure to fund her son’s drug habit.

But Ms Pearse has questioned excuse like this pointing to how often Swinbourne had spoken to her and her mother about her holidays.

She said: “It’s not down to being skint, its down to greed, wanting money and going on holiday.”

Last week, the 58-year-old Farnworth woman was sentenced to 34 weeks in prison, suspended for two years and a 12-week curfew confining her to her home between 8pm and 5am.

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She was also ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days with 180 hours of unpaid work.

Ms Pearse, of Chorley, says she still has concerns about how someone like Swinbourne could be hired for a job in the caring profession.

She says she intends to raise the matter with her MP, Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle.

Ms Pearse said: “I’m not letting it go, I am going to follow up on it because I don’t think that the system is working.”