'Criminal vetting is essential'

A WIFE left devastated after her husband’s carer stole her jewellery is campaigning for tougher checks on criminal history after learning the woman had 13 previous convictions.

- By Jon King

Louise Woollam wants vulnerable elderly people to be protected from those looking after them, in the same way that children are.

She has launched a petition for the profession to be properly regulated, with unsafe carers barred from the job.

The former flight attendant, 62, from Shillingstone, Dorset, hired a carer two years ago to look after her husband Richard, 78, a former pilot with 16 years’ service in the RAF who then flew planes for Dan Air.

He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in May 2020.