A senior care assistant who stole powerful prescription medication from a vulnerable 72-year-old care home resident and replaced drugs with water has avoided a prison sentence.
Fiona Sweet, 50, stole medication prescribed to Ms Crombie while working at Forth Bay Care Home in Kincardine.
The theft happened on 14 February and involved liquid morphine, diazepam and liquid codeine which the resident relied upon for pain relief.
Sweet replaced medication in the bottles with water in an attempt to conceal what she had taken, leaving Ms Crombie without the proper doses of drugs prescribed to her.
The resident subsequently suffered pain, distress and symptoms associated with being deprived of her medication.
When Ms Crombie asked for further pain relief, Sweet told her that she had already received her full allowance and could not be given any more.
Her family said the experience left the 72-year-old feeling “belittled” and distressed as she struggled to understand why she remained in pain despite believing she had received her medication.
Medication discovered in handbag
Concerns were eventually raised by Sweet’s colleagues over her behaviour at work.
When staff decided she should be sent home, a colleague retrieved Sweet’s handbag and discovered medication belonging to the resident inside.
Sweet was suspended and subsequently dismissed from her position at the care home.
She later appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, where she pleaded guilty to theft.
Sheriff Peter Hammond imposed a Community Payback Order requiring Sweet to complete 80 hours of unpaid work, meaning she avoided an immediate custodial sentence.
Family anger over sentence
The outcome has angered Ms Crombie’s family, who believe the punishment fails to reflect the seriousness of what happened to their relative.
They expressed shock that someone entrusted with caring for a vulnerable resident could take medication intended to control her pain and then tell her she could not receive further medication.
The case also raises serious safeguarding concerns surrounding the handling of controlled and prescription medicines in residential care settings.
Sweet’s offending represented a significant breach of the trust placed in her as a senior care assistant and resulted in a vulnerable resident being deprived of medication prescribed for her care.
