A carer stole nearly £30,000 from an elderly woman she was entrusted to help, a court heard.

Noreen Kelly, 54, of Holmhurst Lane, St Leonards, stole the money through a series of cheques between 2008 and 2013, jurors were told.

She also stole jumpers and £2 coins the frail woman was saving for her grandchildren, prosecutors claim.

Ms Kelly denies three counts of theft from Marie Walbrin, now 93, of West View, Hastings.

Opening the case yesterday afternoon, prosecutor Tayo Adebayo said the defendant “abused her position and took advantage of [Ms] Walbrin’s frailty and trusting nature".

He told jurors Ms Kelly had started working for Ms Walbrin in 2008 after the elderly woman fell out with her son over money.

Originally doing two hours a week, helping with shopping and banking, Ms Kelly’s role expanded to taking Ms Walbrin shopping four or five times a week.

But police were called after Ms Kelly left the job in 2013 and Ms Walbrin’s daughter-in-law, Carol Walbrin, found that Ms Walbrin had written a highly unusual amount of cheques over five years, the court was told. Mr Adebayo said: “According to her daughter-in-law she had great difficulty writing out cheques because of her poor eyesight.”

He added: “When [Ms Walbrin] was told £29,000 of cheques had been written out her response was ‘this was ridiculous’.”

In her police interview, Ms Kelly agreed that cheques from Ms Walbrin had been paid into her account, but said these included payment, for example, for petrol, the court heard.

Mr Adebayo said she had also claimed her employer wanted to hide money from the taxman and would give her cheques for her to return the money in cash, prosecutors said.

Ms Walbrin, who lived in the annex of her son’s and daughter in law’s house, was described as a "fairly independent” women who suffered “frailties” due to her age, including a broken hip and poor eyesight.

Ms Kelly’s trial, at Hove Crown Court, is expected to last three days.