A CARE home worker stole a visa card from a frail dementia patient and almost £70,000 was taken from her account, a court heard.

Zeenar Ahmed, 28, plundered Glenys Ormond's Lloyds TSB account as she recovered from falls at Llanyravon nursing home in Cwmbran, a jury was told.

The care home assistant took the bank card from the "gentle" and "frail" widow months before she died of pneumonia at the home, Newport Crown Court heard.

A total of £65,976 was swiped from her account as she lived at the care home in Llanfrechfa Way unable to go to shops, prosecutor Meirion Davies told the court.

Ahmed, of Adeline Street, Newport, drove a Vauxhall then one day turned up for work at the home in a Mercedes car, the jury heard.

The widow's nephew, Stephen Jones, told how his "thoughtful" aunt had donated tens of thousands of pounds to charities over the years.

She died of Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia at the home on March 8, 2011.

In a witness statement read out to the jury Mr Jones said: "If my aunt had been alive she would have been devastated."

Detectives identified around 40 transactions made with the card at cashpoints and shops amounting to £10,500 of withdrawals, meaning other people may have been able to use the visa card, Mr Davies told the court.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to one count of theft on February 4, the court heard.

Amed’s cousin Shabnaz Arshad, 31, of Adeline Street, Newport, appeared at the crown court this week charged with theft.

She also worked at the home as an assistant, the court heard.

The Crown alleged Ms Arshad was part of a "joint enterprise" to steal money from the widow with her cousin between September 10, 2010, and January 18, 2011.

But Ms Arshad was found not guilty of theft by the jury.

Her barrister Nuhu Gobir said she had consistently denied any involvement with the visa card.

The court ordered a pre-sentence report to be made for Ahmed and a sentencing hearing is to take place at a date yet to be fixed.