FURY erupted in Edinburgh Sheriff Court as a carer who stole thousands of pounds from a disabled client who considered her to be a close friend escaped a jail term.

Several family and friends of the victim had to be ushered from the court by police on Friday when Sheriff Frank Crowe decided not to jail Nicola Willis for her crime, instead ordering her to wear an electronic tag and placing her under supervision.

Willis stole more than £28,000 from the bank account of the vulnerable woman she was employed to look after on a daily basis by employers the Thistle Foundation.

Willis plundered the account of the woman, who is in her mid-40s and needs the assistance of a wheelchair, over a two-year period, despite the pair becoming friends over the past decade.

Willis, of Monktonhall Terrace, Musselburgh, invited the disabled woman she was stealing from to her wedding and would drop in to see her out of hours at special events such as birthdays and Christmas.

But despite the close relationship that had developed between the pair, Willis continued to steal thousands of pounds from the woman's bank account.

Bosses at the foundation have now apologised to the disabled victim and admitted that the organisation had been left "shocked" by Willis's actions.

Now the mother-of-three has been ordered to wear an electronic tag for the next six months and has been placed on 12 months of supervision following an appearance in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

The court was previously told 40-year-old Willis began having "financial difficulties" in about 2012 after her and her husband's pub business was having problems.

READ MORE: Carer stole £28,000 from client

The court heard that Willis and her husband lost the £10,000 investment they had put into the pub business and that the couple have since split. The court was also told that Willis was currently attempting to pay the stolen money back.

Thistle Foundation management began noticing discrepancies in the disabled woman's accounts after they had been randomly checked in October 2014.

Thistle Foundation clients have a log sheet where all the financial transactions carried out on their behalf by employees are listed.

But during the audit it became apparent money had gone missing from the woman's account and bank statements going back to 2010 were ordered from the woman's bank as an investigation was started.

Willis subsequently attended an internal Thistle Foundation disciplinary meeting and told her employers she had "messed up the woman's finances" and admitted withdrawing money from the account.

She was immediately suspended from her position, which she had held since 2002, and both the police and the Care Inspectorate were called in.

On Friday, solicitor Ken Cloggie, defending, said his client was "genuinely ashamed and remorseful" over her actions and had "nothing to account" for the missing cash.

Mr Cloggie added: "It all happened in a bit of a blur and the offending continued and escalated out of control.

"The social work report says she has put her head in the sand and that is exactly what's has happened here."

Sheriff Frank Crowe described the crime as "a serious breach of trust" and sentenced Willis to a restriction of liberty order, meaning she will be tagged between 10pm and 6am for the next six months.

The sheriff also placed her on a year-long supervision order.

Willis pleaded guilty to an amended charge of embezzling £28,016.43 from a woman between June 19, 2012, and October 23, 2014, while employed as a carer by the Thistle Foundation.

Mark Hoolahan, deputy chief executive of The Thistle Foundation, said: "The worker was a trusted long-term member of staff who had worked with us and the client for many years.

"We were shocked at her actions and the theft is not only a criminal offence it is also a severe breach of trust and as a company we will not tolerate such behaviour from our employees.

"The Thistle Foundation is sorry for any distress caused to the victim and her family."