Callous crook McLellan ripped off a dozen vulnerable people to the tune of nearly £20,000 whilst working for Inverclyde Council as a community support worker.

Now Patricia Law — mum of a cerebral palsy sufferer who was preyed upon by the heartless thief — has declared that an ‘example’ should be made of her.

Patricia told the Telegraph today: “I don’t want her to get a slap-on-the-wrist community payback order and told to be a good girl from now on.

“I want to see justice being done and for her to get some form of jail time.

“She is a very cunning individual.” Patricia told how her daughter, Jennifer, was one of the 12 people — dependant on support to help them lead their day-to-day lives — whom McLellan collectively fleeced of £19,653.

The fraudster, of Fancy Farm Place in Greenock, is due to be sentenced next month after admitting carrying out the mass embezzlement over a period of more than two years between February 2012 and last March.

Patricia believes that the punishment should match the length of time over which McLellan committed her offences.

She said: “I want it out there that she cannot just walk away from this.

“I would be happy even if she got two years in prison.

“She committed these crimes over a two-year period and I think that she would still be doing it now if she hadn’t been caught.

“I want an example to be made of her as a warning to others.” Patricia, of Ladyburn Street in Greenock, added: “My daughter will be 30 in April and it is just despicable that this woman took a lend of her in this way.

“Jennifer knows what a fiver or a tenner looks like but she has no idea of their value.

“McLellan was in a position of trust to help her, and all the others, with their money and banking.

“She would have built up some sort of relationships with them all because part of her job was to take them shopping, or go for a meal.

“I’m very, very angry about what happened. The council runs the house Jennifer moved in to. I was happy that they took over my job — then something like this happens.” Patricia told how correspondence she received from the council showed that McLellan stole a total of £470 from her daughter.

She added: “I know of a man who had around £800 taken from him.” Patricia says that the council has introduced new checks and balances to ensure that McLellan’s crimes can never be repeated.

She said: “I’ve been assured that it won’t happen again and I want to make it clear that I wholeheartedly trust the other support workers.

“But because of what this woman did, there now has to be a mini statement every time money is lifted, as well as information about what the bank balance was before it was lifted.” Patricia added: “McLellan has now apparently paid back 75 per cent of what she stole.

“But I don’t want her to think that just because she’s done that, that the court will give her some sort of pat of the back.

“All I can say is that I’m glad she was caught because who knows how much more she would have stolen if she hadn’t been?” Inverclyde Council today confirmed that it had reviewed its procedures but pointed out that its existing systems had played an important role in uncovering McLellan’s illegal activities.

A spokesman said: “This is a truly despicable act perpetrated against some very vulnerable people.

“Thankfully the majority of the money has already been recovered and the court is pursuing the remainder of the money stolen.

“The original theft was uncovered by our own staff and after investigation this person no longer works for us.

“Our systems which were in place at the time helped to uncover the original theft and the robustness of those systems helped to provide a strong case for court proceedings.

“An automatic response to a situation like this is to introduce additional extra safeguards and find areas for further improvement, which has been done, to make sure that our systems continue to protect vulnerable people in our community.”