AN elderly woman living with dementia had £500 stolen from her bank account,a court heard.

Bolton Crown Court was told how hundreds of pounds was allegedly taken out of an account belong to Rosemary Holden, from Little Lever, when her bank card and purse was taken.

Her carer Zoe Newby, of Mere Gardens, Halliwell, appeared in court yesterday accused to taking the Nationwide bank card and using it to withdraw two large sums of cash on separate occasions in November 2015.

The 34-year-old pleaded not guilty to the two charges of theft.

Prosecuting, Paul Dockery said that the pin for Mrs Holden’s card was kept alongside it in her purse.

On Sunday, November 15, Newby visited the mother-of-three in the morning and that evening £250 was withdrawn from her account from cash point at the Little Lever Tesco store.

The next day at 8am a further £250 was taken using the card at the cashpoint in the supermarket.

Mr Dockery said CCTV footage showed Newby - who worked for Safehands Care - in her uniform using the cashpoint at that exact time.

He added: “You may ask why must it be the defendant who was the only person who had the card and used it to steal the money? The answer is because at 8 o’clock the footage at Tesco stores shows the defendant using the cash machine on that second occasion.”

He also explained how Newby had just visited, or was about the visit, homes in Little Lever as a carer around the times the cash was withdrawn.

Mrs Holden was suffering from dementia in 2015 and was visited by two carers - one of which was Newby - as well as regular visits from her daughters who live in the Bolton and Bury area.

Daughters Katherine and Elizabeth have right of attorney over her estate due to the illness and on the day of before the theft, Katherine took her mother shopping.

She used the card to withdraw money but put it back in Mrs Holden's purse.

On Monday, Elizabeth discovered the purse was gone. After searching the house, they cancelled the bank card and informed the police. The case continues.