Dinnington woman jailed for stealing £20k from PO

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Dinnington woman jailed for stealing £20,000 from Post Office

http://www.dinningtontoday.co.uk/news/D ... 4696973.jp

A DINNINGTON woman wept as she was sent down for a year after she stole almost £20,000 from the town's post office where she worked.
Sheila Simpson, of Victoria Street, took the money over the five years that she was employed at the Laughton Road branch as an assistant manager.

Staff at the post office were distraught and deeply affected by the actions of their 54-year-old 'conscientious' colleague who had 'betrayed' their trust.

Sentencing her to 12 months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Roger Keen said: "You decided to be a thief, and I must punish you as one."

Simpson admitted theft and two counts of false accounting after two cheques were found to be missing during an audit in October last year.

As she was employed at the post office from June 2002 until March 2007, Simpson was said to know the systems 'inside out'.

Michael Tooley, prosecuting, told the court that she was 'trusted implicitly' and only her account code linked her to the 'false cheques' totalling £19,654.

The court heard that 'guilt' about her crimes racked up and led to her 'unexpected' resignation in February last year.

Defence solicitor Dapinder Singh said: "After she was divorced in the early 90s she found herself in the position where she had debts of £50,000."

"It was in desperation that she turned to these offences."

When she was arrested in April this year, she told police that she 'knew about it' and had 'debts to pay'.

In his summing up, Judge Keen spoke of the distress suffered by the staff who had worked alongside Simpson – completely unaware of her crimes.

Tears rolled down Simpson's face as she heard how her theft had caused the postmistress – who had 14 years of 'unblemished service' – to suffer from serious bouts of depression.

After the hearing, Det Con Rob Platts, of Rotherham CID, said: "It's a sad incident where someone got massively into debt and turned to stealing rather than getting help in some other way."

"The court showed today that you can't do it. If people feel they can't cope with spiralling debts, they must seek help."

"There are helplines available for people who are in trouble and I strongly advise that people make use of them."

Mark Titterton is the managing director of GT News – who run the newsagent where the post office is based.

"We are delighted that this crime has been taken seriously as it has had a massive effect on those she worked with," he said.

"We hope that this case sends out a message that theft from employers will not be tolerated."

[BELIAL]

Bad career choice she should have been a banker,lose billions from pension funds then get given millions from taxpayers funds in bonuses,no fear of prosecution

[dvbuk55]

Bad career choice she should have been a banker,lose billions from pension funds then get given millions from taxpayers funds in bonuses,no fear of prosecution

Any vacancies at the local branch I wonder = hey this could be the crisis I was talking about in another place, I may send an email to Gordy saying - lets not go through the whole rigmarole just send me a couple of mill; I won't forget who my friends are - no truly I won't

[k979aaa]

Bad career choice she should have been a banker,lose billions from pension funds then get given millions from taxpayers funds in bonuses,no fear of prosecution

Any vacancies at the local branch I wonder = hey this could be the crisis I was talking about in another place, I may send an email to Gordy saying - lets not go through the whole rigmarole just send me a couple of mill; I won't forget who my friends are - no truly I won't

It seams that the rich and the corrupt :mfo are given the red carpet in our land and that the poor and the needy are far from being greedy when they ask for what is their right!. But she should not have done what she was found guillty of.