A daughter who stole thousands of pounds from her vulnerable elderly mother told a court she is saving up to pay her back.

Bonita Mills, 60, of St Mary's Road, in Poringland, near Norwich, admitted theft from her elderly mother, between March 2017 and July 2019 when she appeared at Norwich Crown Court, on Friday, for a hearing.

However her barrister told the judge that she had since saved up cash and was planning to pay back all the money she admits that she stole from her mother, who is in her late 70s.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said that the amount of cash taken from the vulnerable victim had still to be finally resolved as Mills claimed she had stolen £8,300 but the prosecution put the figure at a much higher amount of around £13,270.

He said that he would have to take further instructions to find out if the basis of plea was acceptable to the prosecution or whether there needed to be a further hearing before sentence to decide the exact amount of money which was stolen from the victim.

Mr Youell said: "We will be asking for seven days to decide if we need another hearing."

Andrew Oliver, for Mills, said that she had already saved up £8,300 which she said she wanted to use to pay back the cash.

He told the court: "She has the money that she says she took and the £8,300 is in a savings account ready to pay over."

He said the cash would be available once the figure had been resolved and said that depended on any final decision about the terms of her basis of plea which she had offered to the court.

Mr Oliver added: "If there is a dispute about the figures it may be a bit more complex, but not hugely so."

Mr Oliver said that if the figure of £8,300 was agreed then the cash would be ready to pay over, even on the day of her sentencing.

Judge Anthony Bate adjourned the case for sentence until Friday, January 17.

Judge Bate also ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared but warned Mills that all sentencing options would be open to the court.

Although not at the hearing to witness Mills plea in court, a member of the victim's family said afterwards that the thefts from the mother had devastated the family.