A housing officer who stole more than £51,000 from two elderly tenants while working for a housing association has been jailed for 16 months.

Jamie Ratcliffe used his position to obtain personal information and a bank card which allowed him to steal from the two women aged 69 and 92, both tenants of Glasgow Housing Association.

Over the space of two months, Ratcliffe fraudulently set up online bank accounts in their names and transferred funds of £51,882 from their account into his.

His crimes, which took place between February 1 and March 27 this year, came to light when each of the women made contact with their banks. One was told there was no money in her account, with the other being made aware of several high value withdrawals of which she had no knowledge.

At an earlier hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Ratcliffe, from Cumbernauld, admitted committing the offences. On Friday he was jailed for 16 months.

He admitted that on various occasions he visited and contacted the women and stole a bank card and personal information.

Speaking after sentencing Moira Orr, Procurator Fiscal for Glasgow, said: “As a housing officer, Jamie Ratcliffe’s primary role was to assist those in need.

“Instead of doing so he abused that position in the most dreadful way and stole large sums of money from his vulnerable victims.

“Crimes of this nature are treated extremely seriously by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and anyone who believes they have evidence of such offences should have the confidence to come forward and report it to the police.

“We would urge all victims of fraud to report them so those responsible are prosecuted and pay for the consequences of their actions.”