Disgraced Danielle McDermott jailed today for nine months for stealing £11,000 from an elderly couple to fund a lavish lifestyle
THIS is the heartless woman who was jailed today for nine months after she was caught stealing thousands of pounds from an elderly coupe during a covert probe.
Disgraced Danielle McDermott, 25, whose address in Derry is banned from being printed by a court order, faced court 4 in Derry Crown Court to hear she was going into immediate custody.
Shame-faced McDermott stole the money while working as a care worker.
But friends and family have described the nine month sentence as a “disgrace” saying she should have got longer behind bars.
She went to jail today because her crime of fraud is regarded as a much more serious offence in that she is expected to safeguard her clients in her role as a health trust care worker.
McDermott finally confessed to stealing £11,000 from an elderly pensioner couple from the Creggan over a ten month period between August 2013 and May 2014.
She also pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and converting criminal property.
The money was spent to fund a lavish lifestyle for her and her partner. The court heard he is living under a ‘death threat’.
Heartless McDermott started to care for Dinah Porter, 89, following a bad fall which left her bed ridden.
But Dinah’s daughter started to become suspicious about missing money and started her own investigation.
She set up a secret recording and put marked bank notes in her mother’s purse and recorded the serial numbers of the notes.
She then placed her mobile phone camera in her mothers bedroom prior to a visit by McDermott.
“The camera was just sitting here so we saw her bending down over something that was there and she put everything out of her way to get at the purse,” Dinah said.
“She wasn’t that long with me when this all happened. I thought she was a great wee girl, young and lovely.
“When my money went missing we tried everything under the sun to try and catch her doing it,” she said.
The matter was reported by the police to McDermott’s then employer.
A trust officer then carried out a review of Danielle McDermott’s other clients.
The review showed that one client, who had early stage dementia, had her bank account reduced from £11,195 in August 2013 to £474 in April 2014.
A prosecutor told Derry Crown Court on Tuesday that the money had been spent on a lavish lifestyle of holidays, hotels, restaurants and spa treatments for McDermott and her partner.
Dinah’s son, Raymond Porter, said he was still in a state of disbelief over the treachery.
“Unbelievable. I still can’t get over it, (we felt) betrayed and felt very aware of anyone who came into the house, sceptical and unsafe,” he told the BBC.
“For her to be stealing and then to be spending it on herself, make-up, going away on holidays, clothes, her lifestyle?
“It came from other people and vulnerable people. Old people were all her targets,” Raymond said.
Dinah Porter said she was able to forgive McDermott but her daughter could not.
“I feel they’re not well, there’s something wrong about stealing from anybody. I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry for her in a way.
“She didn’t just betray me, she betrayed a lot of others,” she said.
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