Clerk took £61k from family firm

A TRUSTED office worker swindled her employers at a small family-run Oldham company out of more than £61,000 over a period of two-and-a-half years.

Melanie Billington spent the cash on "making herself feel better" by splashing out on clothes and sunshine holidays in Cyprus, Egypt, Benidorm and Tenerife.

Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard how the 42-year old also paid out for a new bathroom suite ­- ironically supplied at a discount price by her employers, Chadderton-based Warwick Plumbing and Heating Supplies.

Her actions put the firm in serious financial difficulties to the extent that management had to put wage reviews for staff on hold, seek financial help from banks, including additional overdraft facilities, and consider redundancies. The court was told that numerous staff meetings were held in a bid to fathom why the company was losing money, but Billington who was responsible, maintained her silence.

When she was finally caught out, she at first tried to blame another staff member who she claimed had been selling stock "out the back door" for personal gain.

Jailing her for eight months, judge Bernard Lever told her he found this aspect of what was a complex, sensitive and tragic case, "despicable."

He said: "You had worked for this company for 10 years. They were friends as well as employers who trusted you, and I'm afraid you abused that trust."

The judge said she had acted in both a "systematic and cunning way" to falsify accounts and computer records to cheat the firm out of money on more than 120 separate occasions.

Charlotte Crangle, prosecuting, said Billington, of Middleton Road, Chadderton, had been an admin worker at the firm's bathroom showroom, with responsibility for handling customer payments.

She was found out after a discrepancy was uncovered while she was on holiday, and when a thorough scrutiny of accounts was made, more and more were found.

Pocketed

In each case she had altered the records to show a lesser sum paid to the company than in fact had been, and pocketed the difference ­- an average of £500 each time.

The court was told that boss Peter Chadwick said the company must have spent hundreds of working hours seeking answers to why the firm was losing money.

He said the discovery that a trusted member of staff was responsible had been a huge blow and he had felt betrayed and shocked.

He said worse was that Billington had been part of the team trying to resolve problems and had been able to "look me in the eye without flinching".

Mr Chadwick said a dark cloud had descended on the company and there had been an air of mistrust because of what happened.

Emma Gilsenan, defending, said Billington ­- who pleaded guilty to a single charge of theft ­- had long-standing health issues including depression, and her actions had spiralled out of control causing her to bury her head in the sand.

The court was told that she had fragile mental health and her GP was of the opinion that she would have difficulty coping in prison.

Ms Gilsenan, who urged the judge to consider a suspended sentence, said: "She was in a way pleased that she was caught out, as it brought the affair to an end."

Judge Lever said while he felt sympathy for her personal problems, he had to weigh them against the interests of public justice and concluded that there was no alternative to immediate custody.