A callous care worker from Smethwick who conned a wheelchair-bound pensioner out of tens of thousands of pounds was jailed for 18 months today.

Helen Bailey, 36, who even re-mortgaged the home of 62-year-old Irene Simons without her knowledge, was told by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court that her offences represented a very serious breach of trust.

The carer, whose husband Paul escaped a prison sentence for going along with the three-year fraud, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to nine charges of false accounting, obtaining a money transfer by deception and possessing criminal property.

Anthony Warner, prosecuting, told the court the Baileys, both of Rathbone Road, Smethwick, West Midlands, were arrested in 2007 after concerns were raised by the victim's sister.

A police investigation found Helen Bailey had falsified Mrs Simons' signature on a mortgage application, leaving the pensioner with a debt of almost £28,000 which she knew nothing about.

Inquiries also disclosed the mother-of-two had fraudulently obtained about £36,000 from Birmingham City Council and Mrs Simons by falsely claiming that her husband, a staff nurse, was looking after the pensioner.

The court heard that Mrs Simons, from Acocks Green, Birmingham, was "totally reliant" on Helen Bailey as she was severely disabled by a muscle-wasting condition.

Paul Bailey, 38, was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service and given a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, after admitting possessing criminal property in the couple's joint bank accounts.

Speaking outside court, Mrs Simons expressed relief that the couple had pleaded guilty and been dealt with by the courts.

"It's been three years of hell in my life," she said. "I feel very hurt because I didn't know what was going on and I could have lost my home.

"I think she started off with little bits and then, when she got away with it, she just got greedy and it escalated."