Tasmanian disability carer Sharon Maree Bailey jailed for three years for defrauding vulnerable client

A Tasmanian grandmother fraudulently obtained work as a disability carer then used a wheelchair-bound client’s credit cards to pay for luxury items, including Elton John tickets, has been sentenced.

A Tasmanian grandmother who fraudulently obtained work as a disability carer before using a wheelchair-bound client’s credit cards to pay for Gold Coast holidays, luxury handbags, and Elton John concert tickets has been jailed for three years.

A Tasmanian grandmother who fraudulently obtained work as a disability carer before using a wheelchair-bound client’s credit cards to pay for Gold Coast holidays, luxury handbags, and Elton John concert tickets has been jailed for three years.

Sharon Maree Bailey appeared for sentence in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Monday, after pleading guilty to 86 counts of fraud relating to her employment at Community Based Support between 2016 and 2018.

Acting Justice Shane Marshall said when Bailey had applied for the role at CBS, the mandatory National Police Check document she submitted was missing pages that detailed her extensive criminal history involving dishonesty.

Acting Justice Marshall said Bailey’s deliberate omission left the impression she had only been convicted of minor traffic offences, whereas her true rap sheet included multiple counts of attempted deception, stealing, and using a computer with the intent to defraud dating back to the 1980s.

His Honour said that soon after Bailey began a job that would not have otherwise been offered, she began using the bank account of the elderly complainant “as if it were her own”.

The grandmother’s offending only came to light after her victim had a VISA transaction declined due to insufficient funds, with a subsequent enquiry to his bank revealing the account was $7000 in debt.

The court heard that the complainant had been initially reluctant to report the matter to police, as “he did not believe anyone he knew would be responsible for the theft”, including Bailey.

In sentencing, Acting Justice Marshall said he took into account Bailey’s guilty pleas, but said delays in the case could partly be attributed to her furnishing of false medical certificates to obtain adjournments in proceedings.

Describing Bailey’s offending as a gross breach of trust against a vulnerable victim — and similar to a 2001 offence when she had “pillaged” the life savings of an elderly woman — His Honour sentenced her to three years imprisonment, ordering she serve at least half the term before being eligible for parole.

Bailey’s sentence was backdated to the day she was taken into custody on 13 November 2024.

Acting Justice Marshall also approved a prosecution application for a compensation order in favour of NAB in the amount of $10,753.85.

Originally published as Tasmanian disability carer Sharon Maree Bailey jailed for three years for defrauding vulnerable client