An accounts assistant at a leading mailing house has been banged up for two years after being found guilty of siphoning off more than £100,000 to fund a luxury lifestyle, complete with designer clothes and lavish holidays.
Book-keeper Lauren Cherry worked for FP Mailing (Premier) in Dartford, a division of the global company originally set up in 1923.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that she started stealing from the company within two months of joining in April 2012.
Prosecutor John Turner said Cherry, who earned about £1,400 gross a month, had access to the online banking system and made transfers from the company’s account to six accounts she had.
But the fraud – which went on for nearly six months – only came to light after Cherry left a bank statement on her desk and a staff member noticed two company payments into her account. An investigation was launched and Cherry was confronted the next day.
Initially she maintained they were transfers within the business, but when challenged changed her story to say the payments had been made by mistake. She was then dismissed.
FP Mailing (Premier) was unable to continue trading and went into liquidation, resulting in 15 people losing their jobs, although 11 were taken on by sister firm FP Mailing (City). The company specialises in software and machinery, and is one of Royal Mail’s accredited businesses for the Mailmark barcode tracking scheme.
The court heard how Cherry was said to have been suffering from depression and low self-esteem and claimed she went on spending sprees to give her a “lift”.
But jailing her for two years and one month, judge David Griffith-Jones QC said: “This is a sorry tale I have heard. It is very troubling to see someone like you standing in the dock awaiting sentence for what is in any view a serious offence.
“You were motivated by greed. You wished to be seen as successful and generous to others. It is fair to say you took a long time to accept your responsibility in the face of compelling evidence.”
