A WOMAN who stolen from elderly residents at a nursing home in Warwick was caught out by police using forensic technology.
Concerns were raised that money was being stolen from residents at Leycester House nursing home on Edgehill Drive.
And in a bid to catch the thief, policy sprayed a forensic traceable liquid called Smartwater onto £10 and £20 notes.
The liquid transfers onto anything it comes into contact with any is only visible under ultraviolet light.
Rita Ampaw, age 20 from Hinckley Road in Coventry was caught with the cash and with traces on her skin.
At Warwick Crown Court on Thursday (July 12) she was given a community order until January 2019 and must also carry out unpaid work and pay court costs.
Supt Tom Harding said: “This is a prime example of some of the covert tactics we’re deploying to catch people who abuse their position of trust and target vulnerable people.
“Protecting those who need our help the most is our absolute priority and it is shameful elderly people have been taken advantage of by someone who was there to look after them.
“Thieves who think they can get away with committing such despicable crimes can think again, anything they steal could be marked and they could ultimately be caught red handed.”
