A TEAM leader stole more than £5,000 from two residents at a care home for adults with learning disabilities.

Rachael Shackleton, 36, was handed a 40-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, last month after finally admitting to her fraudulent actions against vulnerable people.

Shackleton, of Mill Croft, Cowling, was a team leader at Rix House Care Home in Arncliffe Road, Keighley, when she fleeced two people out of thousands of pounds over a two-year period.

After denying the offences last June, she eventually pleaded guilty in January and on February 3 at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court was handed her suspended sentence, community service, and order to pay compensation to her victims.

Between January 2016 and September 2018, while a team leader at the care home, she was expected to safeguard the financial interests of residents at the home, but instead she abused that position to dishonestly take £4,305.23 from one resident.

She did the same to another resident between October 2016 and August 2017, defrauding this person of £763.23.

Magistrates, in sentencing Shackleton, said these were “serious offences” and the custody threshold was crossed “due to abuse of position of trust where vulnerable people were involved.”

However, the jail time was suspended as in mitigation the court heard Shackleton was of previous good character, has two young children, was in an “abusive relationship” at the time of her offending, and her previous work record was “unblemished”.

She was ordered to pay £3,291.78 compensation to her first victim, and just £36.15 to her second victim.

She was also handed a two-year community order, required to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Turning Point, which runs Rix House Care Home, said it took immediate action when it noticed financial irregularities, but stopped short of apologising to Shackleton’s victims.

The residential home caters for up to 20 adults with learning disabilities who require nursing or personal care.

Davinder Jhuty, national head of service for learning disability at Turning Point, said: “When we became aware of financial irregularities, we immediately took action in line with our internal processes to safeguard the people we support and our colleagues.

“We alerted the police and have worked closely with all parties including the family. High standards of care are extremely important to us. Rachael Shackleton no longer works for Turning Point.”