An St Martins woman has been ordered to repay £2,800 after her conviction for stealing money from a residents' bank account when she ran a care home.

Cherie Reynolds has been given three months to pay the money or face an eight-week prison sentence.

The confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act was made at Shrewsbury Crown Court last week.

The 49-year-old, of Church Lane, St Martins, escaped immediate custody when she was sentenced last month.

Reynolds was given a 52-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and made subject to an overnight curfew which ran from March 5 for a period 42 days.

The court heard that Reynolds had withdrawn cash and used the victim’s bank card to pay for equipment at the Ash Grove Residential Home in St Martins.

She had admitted 12 charges of fraud committed between July 2015 and October 2016.

A total of £3,850 was taken from the account of Albert Hughes while he was a resident at the home in Church Lane.

Reynolds, who had been responsible for safeguarding Mr Hughes’ financial interests, made a series of cash withdrawals of between £100 and £300 and spent around £2,350 on items for the residential home.

There were three payments of £1,239, £350 and £460 for bedroom and lounge furniture and £298 for garden furniture, including several gnomes.

The court was told that the care home was closed last year and Shropshire Council had found alternative care arrangements for the two remaining residents.