A hospital worker repeatedly stole cash from the beds of vulnerable elderly patients.

Shannon Mills, 21, was jailed on Monday after she admitted three theft charges committed at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

Mills worked in Ward 5 at the hospital, a unit with 24 beds for the elderly people suffering from conditions such as dementia and pneumonia.

Her thefts totalled £150 over the course of a year.

Fiscal depute Claire Rowan told Dundee Sheriff Court the thefts took place while Mills was employed by NHS Tayside as a healthcare assistant and that none of the cash was recovered.

Mills, of Inveresk Gardens, Dundee, pleaded guilty to three charges of theft between June 2016 and July 2017.

Her pleas of not guilty to five other charges of theft from patients in Ward 5 at Ninewells Hospital were accepted by the Crown.

Solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin, defending, said it was "an extremely serious matter", adding Mills had saved up money to repay the stolen cash.

Sheriff George Way jailed Mills for five months and told her: "You breached the trust of people who are in the most vulnerable of situations."