AN 87-year-old Weston pensioner caught his care worker stealing money from him, after becoming suspicious.

A PARTIALLY-SIGHTED 87-year-old turned detective to trap a once-trusted care worker he thought was stealing from him - and the culprit was this week found guilty for her actions.

George Hinds, who only has partial sight in one eye, memorised the serial numbers of bank notes in his wallet to lay a trap after becoming suspicious of Jayne Collicott.

And the amateur sleuth’s plan came to fruition when she helped herself to �20 from his wallet – and was reported to the police.

Jayne Collicott, 40, of Burrington Avenue, was found guilty of taking the note from Mr Hinds’ wallet at his home in Shelley Road, Weston, on February 9. She was acquitted on six other counts.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court voted unanimously against her after hearing of the pensioner’s cunning plan to trap the would-be thief.

Mr Hind, who only has partial use of one of his eyes, and cares after his dementia-suffering 85-year-old wife Ivy, became suspicious of Collicott at the beginning of the year, when she was employed by Brunelcare.

The care worker had worked with the family for three years, and Mr Hind’s son Noel said she was ‘completely trusted’ by the family.

The 55-year-old, of Merton Drive, Locking Castle, said: “My father had his suspicions that someone was stealing money from him, so he did some detective work.

“He made a note of the serial numbers of the notes in his wallet, and when he was going out of the house one day with her [Feb 9], he dropped his wallet.

“He picked it up, immediately checked and noticed a note was missing, so he told my sister, who was in the house. My father was gutted, he broke down in court and they eventually had to do it by video link.

“He really liked Jayne, so this has really devastated him. It’s also been difficult as we’ve had to keep everything from my mum because of dementia. She still picks up on things, and she would have got very agitated if she had found out.”

Collicott denied a total of seven counts of theft after it was alleged she had stolen a total of �145 from Mr Hind.

The serial number noted down by Mr Hind matched that of a note found in Collicott’s possession, and she was arrested on the evening of February 9.

The shop worker was fined �200 by Recorder Shamim Qureshi, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of �185. She was also ordered to pay Mr Hind �20 in compensation and pay a victim’s surcharge of �15.