Cashier walks free after stealing £23,000 from Calne PO

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Cashier walks free after stealing £23,000 from Calne post office

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A Post Office cashier who plundered £23,000 from the till over a six week period has walked free from court.

Karen Wordley took the cash while her boss was off work having a hip replacement and frittered it away on ‘trivial items’, Swindon Crown Court was told yesterday.

When she returned the 51-year-old reported her till was short of the money and along with her superior started to look for where it could have gone.

When Wordley was confronted about taking the money from the branch in Martin McColl’s newsagent in Phelps Parade, Calne, she denied any wrongdoing.

But in reality she had given in to temptation having spotted a loophole in the system to steal the cash.

And the mum of grown up children later claimed she was spending it on doing the shopping and buying presents for her friends and family.

Michael Hall, prosecuting, told the court the offences took place during the spring of 2010.

He said each member of staff had their own till drawer that usually contained a float of around £5,000.

When her boss was off having the operation he said she managed to inflate the amount stored in her drawer to between £20,000 and £30,000.

She then took the £23,000 excess home with her when a temporary supervisor was in charge and reported a discrepancy when her boss returned.

Suspicion fell on the worker but she denied any wrongdoing saying she couldn’t understand where the money had gone.

When the matter came to the crown court Wordley, of Whitehall Gardens, Calne, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft.

She submitted a basis of plea saying she had seen a colleague inadvertently move some money and it was overlooked which gave her the idea of how to steal.

Mark Ruffell, defending, said his client gave in to temptation after a lifetime of scrimping and saving.

He said she brought up her children singlehandedly and was used to going round the supermarket with a calculator to ensure she didn’t overspend.

Although the police reported seeing a new sofa and TV when they went to her house to arrest her he said she claimed she had simply spent the money shopping for ‘trivial items’.

He said “There was no obvious evidence of high living. She simply says it was years of feeling miserable which were removed in that short period of time.”

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

Passing sentence Recorder Maria Lamb said: “This was a considerable amount of money over a relatively short period. I am quite satisfied that you spotted a potential loophole here and exploited it.

“I am extremely sceptical about what has been said about the way you spent the money because it is an awful lot of money to go in a short time.

“There are substantial mitigating factors here: not the least of which is your guilty plea, not the least of which your good character, not the least of which you did stop before these offences were discovered, albeit I think discovery was shortly to follow and was inevitable.”

The judge imposed 12 month jail term suspended for two years, told her to do 200 hours of community service and pay token compensation of £1,200 at £100 a month.

[Lounge Lizard]

"Mark Ruffell, defending, said his client gave in to temptation after a lifetime of scrimping and saving."

[not me]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

[DGP1]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

[Lounge Lizard]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

[DGP1]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

but these people have to work somewhere or should they just be thrown onto the scrap heap and live on benefits for the rest of their days?

[Red Robbo]

If she is loses her job at the supermarket how is she going to pay back the token sum of £1200 @ £100 per month, out of her benefits ?

[not me]

all of these points
theres plenty of honest folks out there
supermarkets involve cash,stock,trust
so not the place for a proven thief,who at this point is over £21k up
why should she be paid whilst not working and having a job held for her?

[Lounge Lizard]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

but these people have to work somewhere or should they just be thrown onto the scrap heap and live on benefits for the rest of their days?

That's why they had it about right in Victorian times with the Workhouse, fed three basic meals a day, a roof over your head, a job to keep you out of mischief and not much scope for further criminal activity. Bring 'em back, that's what I say.

[DGP1]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

but these people have to work somewhere or should they just be thrown onto the scrap heap and live on benefits for the rest of their days?

That's why they had it about right in Victorian times with the Workhouse, fed three basic meals a day, a roof over your head, a job to keep you out of mischief and not much scope for further criminal activity. Bring 'em back, that's what I say.

Are you David Cameron in disguise

[Lounge Lizard]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

but these people have to work somewhere or should they just be thrown onto the scrap heap and live on benefits for the rest of their days?

That's why they had it about right in Victorian times with the Workhouse, fed three basic meals a day, a roof over your head, a job to keep you out of mischief and not much scope for further criminal activity. Bring 'em back, that's what I say.

Are you David Cameron in disguise

Never, ever been insulted like that before.
No, just sarcasm, and I nearly added that the jails weren't so full when imprisonment involved hard labour.

[DGP1]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

but these people have to work somewhere or should they just be thrown onto the scrap heap and live on benefits for the rest of their days?

That's why they had it about right in Victorian times with the Workhouse, fed three basic meals a day, a roof over your head, a job to keep you out of mischief and not much scope for further criminal activity. Bring 'em back, that's what I say.

Are you David Cameron in disguise

Never, ever been insulted like that before.
No, just sarcasm, and I nearly added that the jails weren't so full when imprisonment involved hard labour.

And kids had more respect when they had to clean your chimneys and your boots

[Lounge Lizard]

£1200 for £23000
not bad
also

Mr Ruffell said she was currently suspended on full pay by a supermarket, where she now worked, pending the outcome of the case.

you would have to ask why.
Im assuming this was kept quiet on applying for the job

And where is the benefit of exculding her from any work she is capable of and having her exist on benefits?

But supermarkets have many applicants for each vacancy, and who are they more likely to employ, someone who's just half inched £23,000 for a till elsewhere or a decent, honest worker ?

but these people have to work somewhere or should they just be thrown onto the scrap heap and live on benefits for the rest of their days?

That's why they had it about right in Victorian times with the Workhouse, fed three basic meals a day, a roof over your head, a job to keep you out of mischief and not much scope for further criminal activity. Bring 'em back, that's what I say.

Are you David Cameron in disguise

Never, ever been insulted like that before.
No, just sarcasm, and I nearly added that the jails weren't so full when imprisonment involved hard labour.

And kids had more respect when they had to clean your chimneys and your boots

Absolutely. Give everyone more freedom though and some take advantage.
Now you either (a) respect the law of the land and work hard for a living or (b) thieve whatever you can in which case you either (i) get away with it and have a better standard of living by continue to doing so or (ii) get caught, never work again and have all your bills paid for you by eveyone else.
Sadly more and more seem to be opting for (2).

[capitalbiker]

er , who pays the £23000 ?

[subbie]

er , who pays the £23000 ?

Well if you were an independent Postmaster then the Postmaster would pay. But this is office is run by a supermarket chain, and I do wonder if they are treated the same

Subbie