Pensioner A CARER who stole thousands of pounds from elderly pensioners to spend on debts and internet gambling has been spared jail after a judge heard how her teenage son would have to go into foster care if she was sent to prison. “As an act of mercy I am not going to impose an immediate custodial sentence,” Recorder Kate Bex QC told 36-year-old Colleen Cosgrove. Recorder Bex said the thefts from Bolton pensioners Joan Peters and Cyril Jackson, who have now both died, represented a “serious and persistent breach of trust”. The court heard that one of Cosgrove’s victims, 91-year-old Mrs Peters, suffered from Alzheimers, vascular dementia and cancer and Cosgrove was one of the carers from Take a Break with Choices who visited her home four times a week.