A mental health carer who stole hundreds of pounds from a patient before and after his death has avoided jail.

Geoffrey Mutenga, of Beaumaris Gardens, Upper Norwood, abused his position as deputy manager of the Beulah Road home to cash cheques worth £800 to help pay for a university course.

The 37-year-old forged the signature of the Thornton Heath home's manager to steal £300 from a patient called Mr Donovan in September 2011 and another £500 in January last year, by which time the patient had died.

He was caught out after Mr Donovan's bank contacted the care home, which is owned by Care Management Group.

CCTV footage later showed Mutenga cashing the cheques.

Joel Smith, prosecuting, yesterday [May 9]said: "The very highest level of trust was breached. He spun a web of lies."

Mutenga, who moved to the UK from Uganda in 2002, initially denied taking the money, before later claimed he had withdrawn it to fund a memorial bench at the home and pay for professional photographs of residents.

He admitted his guilt at Croydon Crown Court last month on the day he was due to stand trial.

Mutenga said he had stolen the money to pay for tuition fees at Kingston University, who would not let him graduate from his pharmacy course until he paid £2,000 he owed.

His lawyer Ignatius Fessal, in mitigation, said Mutenga was also struggling financially after being left as the sole carer of his two children.

Mr Fessal said: "The financial pressure that he felt at the time was a sizeable reason for what he did. He is terribly sorry. The shame and remorse is genuinely felt. He has let down his family and his colleagues."

Judge Ruth Downing said: "Mr Mutenga has lied consistently throughout this. I am not going to excuse you for the fact you dipped into someone else's bank account. You lied and lied about it when it was discovered."

She added the theft "very bad breach of trust" which also "throws suspicion" on other people at the home and its accounting.

But she spared Mutenga a jail term, describing him as of good character and his theft as "modest".

She sentenced Mutenga to six months in prison suspended for a year and ordered him to carry out 150 hours unpaid work.

Care Management Group have fired Mutenga and repaid the money to Mr Donovan's family.

A spokesman said: "We never tolerate stealing and were appalled by this behaviour, which is out of step with everything we stand for.

"The moment we became aware of the issue, the individual in question was immediately suspended and the police informed.

"We have fully reimbursed all the money and since the event, Beulah Road has strengthened its internal financial processes and robust systems are in place that safeguard both our service users and service users’ money."