A FORMER director of the Women’s Institute in Lancashire has been given a suspended prison sentence for stealing from the bank account of a lifelong friend who was dying from breast cancer.

Kathleen Bailey, 70, had been given power of attorney over the affairs of Kathleen Ormrod after the 87-year-old went into a residential home in 2012. The pair had been lifelong friends.

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Bailey was responsible for carrying out day-to-day spending for Mrs Ormrod after the octogenarian was admitted to Walshaw Hall care home in Tottington, near Ramsbottom. Prosecutors said Bailey was given a number of pre-signed cheques for the NatWest bank, Ramsbottom, in order to buy things for her ailing friend who required daily nursing care.

But bank staff became suspicious after a number of large transactions were made, including a withdrawal of £800 in October 2012, £880 in November 2012 and £1,100 in December 2012. The account was frozen in April 2013.

Bailey, of Butler Street, Ramsbottom, was investigated by Greater Manchester Police and later charged with theft.

At Bolton Crown Court she admitted the offence.

She was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation to Mrs Ormrod’s estate.

The victim, who also lived in the Ramsbottom area, had been seriously ill for some time and died around eight weeks after Bailey was arrested and charged.

A friend of Mrs Ormrod's family said after the hearing: “Mrs Bailey is a well-respected resident in Ramsbottom.

“She is president of the Shuttleworth-in-Ramsbottom Women’s Institute and a church elder at Dundee United Reformed Church.

"She is involved in a number of charities and organisations, including Ramsbottom fire cadets.”

Bailey was a director of the Lancashire Federation of Women’s Institutes for a 12-year period until October 2012, when she resigned her post.

Mrs Ormrod was one of the former trustees of the Ramsbottom branch.

The friend said: “She (Mrs Ormrod) was devastated by the breach of trust.

“They were close friends for years and she treated her (Bailey) as a daughter.

"It is an awful thing to do to a dying woman.

"She was a lovely woman who was very generous.”