A woman has been jailed after stealing more than £17,000 from two "vulnerable, trusting and kind" pensioners.

Mum-of-four Emma Noble blew the money on a 21-month spending spree on Amazon, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The 48-year-old, who targeted two elderly men at the RBLI Village – run by Royal British Legion Industries – in Aylesford, used the cash to buy Mercedes Benz mats, booze, hiking boots, trainers, a washer-dryer, skincare products, perfumes and aftershaves.

Noble has now been sent to prison for a year after admitting two offences of fraud by false representation.

Judge Karen Hammond told her her thieving had been a "persistent and despicable abuse of position".

She added: "These two elderly gentlemen, who trusted you implicitly with every aspect of their care, were despicably taken advantage of.

"They relied on their carers for everything and notably had no family members to operate independent checks on the use of their finances."

Judge Hammond also ordered Noble, who kept her shame a secret from her children, to pay £16,354 in compensation.

Amazon has already refunded £1,040.

Prosecutor Carl Wheeler told the court how Noble's duties consisted of visiting the victims at their flats three times a week to assist with their day-to-day activities, shopping and finances.

But between July 2018 and April 2020, she took advantage by buying 845 items from Amazon using their bank cards – spending £7,074 on one and £10,321on the other.

Most of the goods were delivered to her home in Howick Close, Aylesford.

The fraud came to light after Noble was off sick from work and then furloughed. Her replacement then reviewed one of the pensioner's bank statements.

"She noticed a lot of outgoing payments for items purchased on Amazon," Mr Wheeler told the court.

"She thought this was odd as she knew neither of the two men had access to the internet and nor did they know how to use it.

Tom Stern, defending, said Noble, who had previously worked as a Metropolitan Police civilian assistant, had was not a "cynical fraudster" but had devoted her life to caring and supporting others.

He said her offending resulted from "a complete loss of judgment" after the deaths of her father and mother-in-law, and her husband's depression.

A spokesman for the Royal British Legion Industries said: “The individual in question was not an RBLI employee but was working for an external care agency organised by social services.

“We were very saddened to hear this had happened to the two residents involved.

“Since first learning of the incident, the RBLI care team have worked closely with the residents to support them, as well as with Kent Police to ensure a just outcome.”