Esther Thomas has been banned from the profession for five years.
A FEMALE ambulance worker from Llanelli has been struck off for stealing a purse at a paramedics' Christmas party.
Esther Thomas, 44, was banned from the profession for five years for opening a partygoer's handbag to pinch her purse.
Qualified paramedic Thomas was seen talking with a man at a karaoke bar in Swansea before stuffing the purse into the front of her skirt.
CCTV footage then showed the ambulance worker walking away from the bar - and she was later arrested by police.
A hearing was told that Thomas had been dancing at the health workers' party before the sneak theft.
Presenting officer Cadi Dewi said: "Mrs Thomas was attending a Christmas party where there were other paramedic staff present.
"A member of that function noticed her purse to be missing at about 8.30pm that evening.
"CCTV footage was checked and showed Mrs Thomas dancing near the complainant before speaking to a male friend and then walking away.
"She had placed her hand into a bag and removed an item.
"She placed the item down the front of her skirt and walked away."
A Health and Care Professions Council heard Thomas was arrested on suspicion of theft in December 2013.
In interview she told police she had "very little memory" of being at the party at Bambu bar in Swansea.
Ms Dewi said: "She told officers she remembered singing karaoke and charging her phone.
"She said she was by the bar because her mobile phone was being charged.
"She said she thought the purse belonged to a colleague and she was trying to return it to them."
Thomas pleaded guilty to theft at Swansea Magistrates Court in February 2014 and was fined £320.
At a HCPC hearing the ambulance worker, of Llanelli, admitted one allegation of theft and was removed from the paramedic register.
It came after she was given a second chance by health chiefs over another breach of discipline.
She had previously been suspended from working in 2009 after she drove an ambulance to an Aldi supermarket and went shopping while on duty after a 999 call.
She has failed to tell controllers she was available to respond to another emergency.
Thomas bought personal shopping during her visit to the shop, while another paramedic in the ambulance waited in the car park outside.
Wearing her paramedic's uniform, she was spotted by a member of the public stealing a shrub she dug up from the store's car park.
Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Llanelli-ambulance-worker-struck-purse-theft/story-28598500-detail/story.html#ixzz3yIDET0Pd
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