A "CRUEL" Dumbarton support worker has been found guilty of locking the vulnerable adult she cared for in a car as she shopped.

Alba Mooney was found guilty of wilfully neglecting the adult, who the Reporter has named Ms M, on May 18, 2016, while co-accused Linda Kane was also found guilty for the same treatment of Mr B, who was a patient in her care, when both appeared in the dock at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Mooney, of Murroch Avenue, and Kane, of Rampart Avenue in Knightswood, Glasgow, denied leaving the adults – who both have learning difficulties – inside the car parked at Clyde Shopping Centre in Clydebank for approximately 45 minutes was neglect.

The pair, who were employed by support service C-Change, claimed neither victims wished to enter the shops and it was "procedure" not to force the pair into an activity but to lock the door ensuring they were unable to exit for their own safety.

Both women have since been disqualified for 10 years and are no longer with the company.

The court heard police officers were called to a report the two individuals had been left inside the vehicle for up to 45 minutes and had become "distressed" at 5pm that day.

Constable Claire Curly told the court when they arrived the car's windows had steamed up, the pair were "thrashing" around and making "groaning" like noises but were unresponsive when police attempted to question them.

Her partner, Constable John Millar, was using his baton in an attempt to smash the passenger seat window in order to free the pair when Mooney and Kane returned.

He told the court when he asked Mooney if it was "appropriate" to leave the victims in the car and she responded with a shrug.

Constable Millar said: "It was the attitude, I couldn't believe it. I think the words used were 'what could possibly go wrong?'."

Both Mooney, 60, and Kane, 51, claim Ms M and Mr B refused to get out of car and asked their carers to carry out shopping on their behalf while they listened to music inside the vehicle.

The carers said it would have caused more distress to go against the duo's wishes and instead opted to make their purchases – zipped jackets for Ms M and a necklace and bracelet for Mr B.

But depute fiscal Martina McGuigan branded the purchases "unnecessary" and became embroiled in a heated exchange with Mooney over whether she should have allowed her client to stay in the car despite potential dangers they could have faced - such as they wouldn’t be able to vacate if there was an emergency due to the child locks being activated in the back seat.

Mooney disputed the statement, despite admitting Ms M was primarily wheelchair-bound: "She could get out by the doors in front by leaning over the passenger seat and opening the door."

She added: "I went back to check on them to ask if they wanted to go for a coffee.

"I tried to coax them out but it was 'you go shopping'.

"When I went back to the car they were singing."

Kane agreed Mr B – who was recently registered partially blind – would also have been able to travel from the front to the back of the car, claiming she had witnessed him do it in his own car "several times".

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry was unconvinced and found the pair guilty.

Mooney's defence agent told the court: "This incident has had a very significant effect on her.

"She's unemployed and in receipt of benefits. She has a previous conviction but none are particularly relevant."

Mr Reed, Kane's defence solicitor, added: "She was very disappointed about the fact she was no longer able to work with [Mr B]. She had a great relationship with him."

He added that Mr B was also upset that he was no longer allowed to spend time with Kane.

Sheriff Hendry sentenced Mooney to 80 hours unpaid work in six months, while Kane was ordered to pay £500 for the "serious offence".

He told the pair: "There's no doubt at all that you left them on their own and that you did not go back to visit them.

"I'm satisfied that this amounts to a crime."