A prolific gambler stole more than £100,000 from the savings of an elderly resident at his care home to fund his addiction.

Imran Ahmed was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court today after admitting stealing the money from a current account belonging to Audrey Green, a resident in her 70s at the Lilac House Care Home in Beeston, Nottingham, which he managed.

Ahmed, 39, used the money to fund "a double life" of gambling, the court heard.

The father-of-two would lose hundreds of pounds at casinos and at the races but his family were unaware of his addiction as he would lie to his wife about where he was going and was secretive about his financial affairs, the court heard.

Ahmed was well thought of in the nursing profession, having obtained his diploma in 1997, but the court heard he had begun gambling at university and it had become "a pathological addiction" which drove him to steal the money from the widow's account.

He made cash withdrawals from ATMs using Mrs Green's debit card which was kept, along with her personal identification number, in a safe at the care home which was owned by his family, the court heard.

Prosecuting Esther Harrison said Ahmed would use the card to take between £150 and £300 out at a time from an ATM and sometimes make more than one withdrawal a day.

Ahmed, who appeared in the dock today wearing a grey wool jacket and white shirt, also stole the resident's cheque book.

Mrs Harrison told the court he stole £58,000 in cash and some £43,000 in cheques over a five-year period from Mrs Green's account.

The theft only came to light when the care home closed in 2011.

Mrs Green, now aged 80, was a "vulnerable woman" who "lacked confidence and was not financially aware," the court was told.

But Ahmed, whose family address was not given out in court, was attracted by the thrill of the gambling lifestyle and being "with the high rollers," the court heard.

His decision to steal money from the elderly resident was to be "career ending".

Judge Michael Stokes said: "Those who take advantage of the elderly are the worst sort in my view."

He said Ahmed's "extensive and long standing gambling addiction" amounted to little in mitigation.

Ahmed looked down in the dock as Mr Stokes sentenced him to three years in prison, of which he will serve half before being eligible for release.

Mr Stokes added: "Audrey Green who is now 80 was living at Lilac House. She was under your care and she was vulnerable. She had little financial know how and I have no doubt she must have appeared to you an easy target.

"Over a period of five years you stole approximately £100,000 from her account."

Jailing Ahmed, the judge said his behaviour was as "gross a breach of trust as it is possible to imagine."

He said: "Elderly vulnerable people are regrettably far too often the target of fraudsmen and the court has got to make it plain that anyone who takes part in this deliberate behaviour will be severely punished."

"You had an extensive and long-standing gambling addiction which a report tells me has been the driver of your offending. Doubtless it was but that in reality it amounts to little in mitigation."

The court heard Ahmed stole the money between January 1 2005 and December 3 2011.

In mitigation the court heard Ahmed had a pathological addiction to gambling which he had hid from family and friends.

Defending Ahmed, Mr Philip Bown said: "This was a man being driven to distraction by the pathological addiction to gambling. It was running his life."

He said his client was full of remorse and that gambling now "sickens" his client.

Ahmed apologised to Mrs Green's family in the dock before he was taken down.

He said: "I want to publicly apologise to Mrs Green and her friends for the pain and hardship that I have caused them."

Mr Bown said his client had been attracted by the "thrill" of being in circumstances where he was with "high rollers" but that he couldn't go on living "a double life".

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has been made aware of the proceedings, the court heard.

Mr Stokes said Ahmed would never work in the care profession again.

The offences came to light after the care home closed in 2011.

Friends of Mrs Green were told there was insufficient funds to pay for her care.

Janet and Paul Boothroyd, of Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, looked at Mrs Green's bank statements and noticed the money had been taken from her account.

The couple, who have known Mrs Green for 15 years since they met her and her late husband while playing bingo, contacted Barclays bank and Social Services who launched an investigation and urged them to alert the police.

Speaking after the sentencing today, Mrs Boothroyd said: "It's been a two-year struggle to get it here for her and I'm a bit disappointed with three years.

"Whether he stole the money for gambling or whatever it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter remains that he stole money from a vulnerable, old woman.

"We first met Audrey and her late husband Douglas at the Gala bingo in Radford about 15 years ago and I see her every week.

"She went into the home just before her husband's death five or six years ago. I think they'd been married for some 25 years.

"She's a lovely woman and didn't deserve anything like this to happen to her."

Mrs Boothroyd said Barclays had been very understanding and had returned £96,000 to Mrs Green.

They added that Mrs Green was now living in a new care home in Attenborough, Notts.

Commenting after the sentencing, Nottinghamshire County Council said it launched a joint investigation with Nottinghamshire Police after Mrs Boothroyd contacted them about the irregularities on Mrs Green's bank account.

The council contacted Barclays which carried out an independent investigation and established that the money had been taken illegally from Mrs Green's account.

A refund has been made to the victim totalling £96,000, the council said.

Allan Breeton, independent chair of the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Adults Board, said: "Mr Ahmed was in a position of trust as a care home manager which he exploited to steal significant sums of money from an elderly resident at his home.

"This case effectively demonstrates how the agencies involved work together to achieve a successful outcome for a vulnerable person and we hope this sentence sends out the message that this kind of financial abuse is wholly unacceptable."