This is the appalling moment a carer stole money from a 93-year-old dementia sufferer's purse as the confused victim was sat just three feet away.

Sara Hodge, 49, was trusted to look after the great-grandmother-of-six, who needed help dressing and preparing meals in her own home in Northwood, Middlesex.

But a secret camera installed by the victim's daughter showed Hodge stealing cash while feet away from her vulnerable patient.

The extraordinary footage handed to police shows the carer dragging the 93-year-old's handbag under her chair with her right foot.

After putting on a rubber glove she dips her hand in, pulling out the purse and then brazenly stuffs notes into her uniform while asking the vulnerable woman how she was feeling.

The footage, released for the first time today, was used to convict the carer of theft but she walked free after being given an eight week suspended jail sentence at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court in 2015.

Shocking: Sara Hodge, 49, was trusted to look after the grandmother-of-two, pictured in the left of the picture, but was filmed stealing cash from the 93-year-old's purse, right

Criminal: The extraordinary footage shows Hodge (left) sliding the woman's handbag across the floor with her foot (right) before the theft

In the dock: The carer was given an eight week sentence suspended for a year after she admitted the theft at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court

Her 59-year-old daughter has anonymously released the footage in a bid to raise awareness of the difficulty in finding reliable carers.

The stolen money, believed to be less than £50, was in her mother's purse to pay for her lunch and a mobile hairdressing appointment.

She said: 'To know that someone had come into my mother's house to look after her but actually rip her off was so upsetting. It made me feel sick. My mum would have no idea it was missing.'

The crime unfolded while she was talking to her victim in her dining room and pretending to do paperwork.

The victim's daughter said: 'She (Hodge) was in a position of trust. It makes you wonder whether stealing from someone's bag like that is something you only do once'.

The great-grandmother-of-six has suffered with memory problems for around eight years, and had council-funded private carers since around 2013.

The theft occurred when long-time carer Hodge visited on July 2, 2015, at the pensioner's home in Northwood, Middlesex.

It was caught on camera after her daughter installed a secret device in a bid to monitor whether notes on her mother's care record reflected their visits.

Her daughter - who wants to remain anonymous - uncovered the video when she checked the DVD that evening, and called the police.

Brazen: The theft happened while the carer was talking to her victim in her dining room

Comeuppance: The carer believed her victim's illness would allow her to get away with theft (pictured putting money in her pocket) but she was caught in the act by the woman's daughter

She has released the footage now after having gone through three more sets of carers, in a bid to raise awareness of the difficulties families face.

Earlier this month it was revealed care firms have cancelled contracts with 95 UK councils, saying they can't deliver services for the amount they are being paid.

The daughter said: 'I would say to everyone out there, how do you know what the carers are doing when they come into the homes of your elderly relatives?

'How do you know what they have done? Unless you have CCTV and you can verify it, you just don't know.

'The council themselves think that the carers are doing the job.

'Social services are pretty good - they put in a care package for my mother that was very good, but it's not being followed through by the agencies.'

Hodge, of Ruislip, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to stealing money of an unknown value from the pensioner at court on November 2015.

As well as her suspended sentence, she was ordered to pay £10 compensation, costs of £50, a court charge of £180.