CCTV caught Northampton care home manager stealing from widow's flat as she lay dying in hospital

Adam Brooks let himself into to an elderly woman's flat less than an hour after she went to hospital so he could steal cash.

A Northampton retirement home manager who burgled an elderly woman's as she lay dying in hospital has been jailed.

Jacqueline White MBE, 83, was rushed to hospital after she was found collapsed at her home in Hawthorns Retirement Apartments on Weedon Road in August last year.

Sadly, the much loved mother died just hours later in the early morning of August 26.

But when Mrs White's family checked the flat's CCTV later that day to see if anything had caused her fall, they were puzzled to see the home's deputy care manager Adam Brooks let himself in with his master key - only to watch in horror as he began rooting through her drawers and jewellery box.

The footage showed Brooks, 33, calmly searching the apartment and pocketing £110 in total before spotting the camera, turning it away in a panic and slamming the door behind him as he left.

At Northampton Crown Court today (November 5) Recorder Mr David Herbert said: "You entered her apartment at that home when you knew that she wasn't there... You watched her being taken from the home to the hospital.

"Within about an hour of her having left in the ambulance, you then went to her flat with the intention of stealing from her. You motivation was simple greed."

Brooks later lied to police that he had returned later to put the money back. After first denying the crime in magistrate's court, he later pleaded guilty to burglary.

In a victim impact statement read out in court by prosecutor Ayanna Nelson, Jackie's son Martin said: "I can still hear the jewellery box being opened and closed in my dreams.

“It is very hard to describe the absolute shock and horror I felt when I saw Adam Brooks burglarise my mother’s flat less than two hours after he had watched her being carried out.”

In court, the judge told Brooks - of Water Stratford, Buckinghamshire - that his thievery was "an insult to the managerial position you held".

He said: "Jacqueline White's family had enough to cope with on that day dealing with the death of their mother, let alone having to deal with you and the consequences of you stealing from her.

"You lost your job because of this and no doubt this conviction will affect your employment prospects in the future."

Brooks was sentenced to 27 months in prison.