Worker stole more than £21,000 from her employer

A GREEDY worker who plundered more than £21,000 from her employer and splashed it on takeaways and treats has been jailed.

Senior administrator Katie Wallace started working at Harry Burnicle Ltd, a construction business in Sunderland, in April last year and within weeks had started diverting company cash into her own personal account. Newcastle Crown Court heard between June 1 and September 2 she transferred £21,286 to her bank, in 31 fraudulent transactions.

Prosecutor Matthew Hopkins told the court when discrepancies were spotted Wallace claimed there had been innocent mistakes and made a series of excuses in a bid to cover her tracks. The court heard the cost of her offending to the family-run firm has been a “lot more than money”.

A spokesman who read out an impact statement on behalf of the business, which was established in 1981, said Wallace’s dishonesty was “planned and very complex” and added: “She was taking money in the full knowledge of the stress people were under.”

The court heard one worker was made redundant, a senior staff member was hospitalised due to stress and the company’s charitable donations had to be halted because of what happened. The spokesman added: “I cannot stress enough the extent the fraudulent, deceitful actions have had on our business and families.”

Wallace, 31, of Aintree Road, Sunderland, who has never been in trouble before, admitted theft and was sentenced to eight months.