A care home nurse who stole an Amazon Fire tablet from a dead former resident’s property has been sentenced to community service.

Junle Mae Dolloso then accessed the care home’s computer records without permission in order to contact the deceased man’s daughter.

Magistrates sentenced the 54-year-old to 240 hours community service after she pleaded guilty to offences of theft and unauthorised access of computer material. She was also ordered to pay £125 prosecution costs.

We previously reported how Dolloso was working at Beaconsfield residential nursing home in Ramsey at the time of the offences.

The daughter of the deceased man said that she had purchased a reconditioned Amazon Fire tablet for £69 for her father. Various accounts on the tablet were linked to her father.

He passed away in February 2021 and his belongings were put in a room for collection.

His daughter subsequently collected them but later discovered that the tablet could not be found. The woman said she then received a Nexus 7 tablet in the post a short time later.

Investigations into her late father’s Amazon Fire accounts showed that an application which had been in his name had since been changed to a different name, off the island.

The manager of the care home said that the new name on the account was the same as a relative of Dolloso’s.

Senior carer Dolloso, who lives at Fuchsia Close in Peel, was found to have accessed the home’s patient records on April 3 without permission and obtained contact details for the deceased man’s daughter.

On that day, the daughter received a phone call from a female who told her that the tablet had been taken by mistake as it was in the unclaimed property.

Dolloso was arrested and told police that the tablet was being sent back to her from the Philippines.

The man’s daughter said that it was mainly of sentimental value but when she got it back all previous personal files had been deleted.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain said: ‘It seems to me had Ms Dolloso gone to her manager at the outset it may have been resolved.’

Defence advocate Paul Glover handed in letters of reference for his client and asked for credit to be given for her guilty pleas. Mr Glover said that the item was of low value and had been returned, but it was accepted that the contents had been of sentimental value.

‘Ms Dolloso feels incredibly guilty for what the family must be feeling,’ said the advocate.

‘Maybe if she’d gone about things in a different way she wouldn’t be here today.’

Mr Glover said that Dolloso had lost her job after being a nurse for many years but hoped to get a similar job again if she was not sent to jail.

A probation report assessed her as a low risk of reoffending.

‘This is not going to be a lady who is back in court anytime soon,’ said the advocate.

‘She accepts she made a stupid decision and unfortunately things have snowballed from there.’

Magistrates sentenced Dolloso to 240 hours community service for the theft, with no separate penalty made for the unauthorised access offence.

She will pay the prosecution costs at a rate of £10 per week, but said that she would pay more if she gained employment.