Fawdon PO worker 'accidentally' threw £20,000 into the bin

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Fawdon Post Office worker 'accidentally' threw £20,000 into the bin

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51-year-old Michelle Rerrie, from Fawdon, Newcastle, was given a suspended prison sentence after the error

A post office worker accidentally threw away £20,000 after suffering a bang to her head, a court heard.

Michelle Rerrie claimed she put the money in a bin instead of the safe by mistake while suffering concussion.

When the 51-year-old realised her error, she tampered with her computerised till’s accounts to try and hide what she had done from her bosses for months.

Newcastle Crown Court heard it was only when officials carried out an audit at her branch at Fawdon, near Gosforth, Newcastle, that she confessed what she had done and how she had tried to conceal it.

Rerrie, of Dykefield Avenue, Fawdon, was initially accused of stealing the cash but prosecutors later accepted her story and her guilty plea to false accounting.

Prosecutor Susan Hirst told the court: “In interview she stated that prior to Christmas 2011 she had banged her head and suffered concussion.

“The following day at work when cashing up she had placed over £20,000 cash in a bag.

“In her confusion she couldn’t remember whether she had put it in the safe or in a rubbish bag.

“She said when she went back to work the next day and the money bag had gone.”

The court head the audit had been carried out after reports that the Fawdon branch kept running out of cash.

Rerrie confessed she had resorted to collecting a nearby pub’s weekend takings on a Monday morning to ensure she had enough cash in her till to pay out to customers.

Judge Penny Moreland sentenced Rerrie to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with 40 hours unpaid work.

The judge said: “The Crown accept that money went missing, for which you felt yourself responsible and you went on to cover up that deficit by making false entries onto the Post Office computer and by collecting cash from a regular customer to make up the shortfall in the till.

“It is the responsibility of employees such as you at the Post Office to make accurate and reliable entries.

“You have accepted you committed an offence when you failed to do that.”

The judge ordered a not guilty verdict in relation to the theft charge.

John Wilkinson, defending, said Rerrie, who is of previous good character, has found a new job and has been deeply effected by the court proceedings.

He said: “She has always been frank about what she ways happened.

“We are dealing with a quite substantial amount of money but no-one has suggested she has benefited from this. She has not had that money.”

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Fawdon Post Office worker 'accidentally' threw £20,000 into the bin



A post office worker accidentally threw away £20,000 after suffering a bang to her head, a court heard.

Michelle Rerrie claimed she put the money in a bin instead of the safe by mistake while suffering concussion.

When the 51-year-old realised her error, she tampered with her computerised till’s accounts to try and hide what she had done from her bosses for months..............

..................The judge ordered a not guilty verdict in relation to the theft charge.

John Wilkinson, defending, said Rerrie, who is of previous good character, has found a new job and has been deeply effected by the court proceedings.

He said: “She has always been frank about what she ways happened.

“We are dealing with a quite substantial amount of money but no-one has suggested she has benefited from this. She has not had that money.”

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