Talbot Green: Care home manager who stole from vulnerable struck off

Tracy Kolade was jailed for 10 months for stealing from a care home resident

A care home manager who stole more than £2,000 from a vulnerable resident has been struck off.

Tracy Kolade, 53, from Abertillery, was jailed for 10 months after pleading guilty to fraud at Newport Crown Court in October.

Kolade was working at Ty Heulog Independent Living in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, when she stole from a resident in 2018.

She was struck off the carer's register following a Social Care Wales hearing.

The panel said the Kolade had carried out a "very significant abuse of trust" after making 12 separate withdrawals from Diane Harris's account over an eight-month period.

Ms Harris, 61, had mild to moderate learning difficulties and needed help with money and banking, and noticed money missing from her account after Kolade began keeping her bank card in a safe.

During the trial last year, the jury heard how Kolade would regularly visit Ms Harris' bank in Talbot Green to withdraw cash, which amounted to £2,160.

During the fitness to practice hearing, held over Zoom, the panel said Kolade tried to shift blame onto another unnamed person after Ms Harris noticed the money was missing.

Ms Harris then found an envelope posted through her letterbox containing £440 and a note that read '"thank you".

'A risk of harm'

Removing Kolade from the Register of Social Care Workers, the panel said she had shown a "lack of integrity", and had not pleaded guilty until just before the start of the trial, causing her victim anxiety.

"[She] presents a risk of harm to individuals using services and breached a number of the fundamental tenets of the care profession," the panel added.

Kolade was not present at the one-day remote hearing.