With 20 years experience as a carer Denese Adams was trusted to look after an 84-year-old Gloucester widow.

Instead, she stole vulnerable Cissie Ingram's entire life savings and spent the cash living the high life with her partner.

Now new parents Adams, 37, and Richard Cassidy, 33, will spend the next two years in jail after being sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday. Adams and Cassidy used Cissie's £46,000 savings, to buy new cars, a kitchen and decking .

Adams, who had worked as a carer for Mrs Ingram at her home in Rosebery Avenue, plundered her bank account by writing out a series of cheques – one to herself and 12 to Cassidy.

The offences came to light when solicitors dealing with Mrs Ingram's affairs realised direct debits payable from her account had not been paid.

They investigated and it was discovered there were no funds left in the account, said prosecutor Robert Hall.

Jailing them both for two years at Gloucester Crown Court Recorder Tim Mousley QC said: "Your behaviour towards Mrs Ingram was mean and callous. You took huge advantage of a very vulnerable person who was coming towards the end of her life.

"You were motivated entirely by greed. As far as I can see, at the time you spared absolutely no thought at all for her and any signs of remorse that are in you now have come pretty recently."

The Recorder certified that the couple, of Wharfdale Way, Hardwicke, had each benefited equally from the crimes – £23,225 each. He said Adams has £16,670 available to be recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act and the full amount can be recovered from Cassidy.

He ordered that the money is confiscated from them and paid as compensation to the estate of Mrs Ingram, who died on October 14 2007.

Cassidy was also ordered to pay compensation of £2,722 to Mrs Ingram's solicitors.

Adams, who has an eight-month-old son, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of theft of money from Cissie Ingram between February 2006 and June 5 2007.

Cassidy pleaded guilty to 14 charges of handling the money between the same dates.

Mr Hall had told the court that Mrs Ingram spent the last few weeks of her life in a care home after being found wandering the streets in a confused state. Adams claimed she had received a number of cheques as gifts from Mrs Ingram. Cassidy said she had told him Mrs Ingram wanted to give them a gift so he had opened a bank account specially to deposit funds into.

Giles Nelson, for Adams, said she had been given up at birth and brought up by an aunt till she was seven but then went into care until she was 16.