A disgraced care home boss who stole almost £10,000 from vulnerable pensioners has been struck off.
Allyson Elaine Smith has been axed from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register after she stole from residents at Ashton Grange Care Home in Pallion, Sunderland.
The 39-year-old's pilfering included taking more than £915 from one ailing w
oman shortly before she died, whittling her savings down to just £1.38.
Smith, from Sunderland, claimed she stole to fund her abusive ex-boyfriend's gambling habit.
The qualified nurse was given a 12-month suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court in February last year after she admitted theft of just under £10,000.
However, the NMC panel in London heard that the owners of the 40-bed St Luke's Road home, Southern Cross Healthcare, claimed more than £16,000 was missing.
Smith took over as manager of Ashton Grange in October 2003, and the following summer started stealing from savings kept in the safe.
Nailah Mears, for the NMC, said: "These thefts occurred in relation to very vulnerable and often elderly patients to whom the registrant was supposed to be providing care and support."
Smith did not attend the hearing but in a letter claimed her shop assistant partner beat her and demanded money to fund his gambling addiction.
"Two or three times a week he would hit me about the head and body. Quite frequently I attended work with bruises," she said.
Smith alleged her boyfriend put pressure on her to steal from the residents in August 2004 after finding her working on the home's accounts.
She would take between £50 and £500 at a time and claimed she initially tried to refund the cash from her wages.
In her letter Smith said she stopped stealing when she left her partner in July 2005 but said she knew she would be found out eventually, which happened after an internal audit in May 2006.
Smith, who said she was deeply ashamed of her actions, has suffered health problems as a result of her trauma and has not worked since her dismissal in July 2006.
The panel accepted she acted under duress but her dishonesty was so serious she could not stay on the nursing register.
Panel chairwoman Catherine Duthie said Smith had exploited vulnerable residents and caused them distress.
"She put the reputation of both herself and her profession at risk," she added.
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