Telford woman jailed for stealing £23,000 from employers

Lindsay Michelle Oliver, 34, of Whitchurch Road, worked in the accountants department at the Camden Group and took the cash in just over a year by keeping cash paid by customers.

Oliver was jailed for 18 months for what was said to be “a spectacular” breach of trust.

Oliver had pleaded guilty to stealing monies from the Camden Group Ltd between August, 2015 and October, 2016 at an earlier hearing.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard Oliver was in breach of a suspended sentence imposed in May 2015 for offences of fraud.

Earlier this month Judge Jim Tindal adjourned sentence to allow Oliver to inform family that she was in court facing a prison sentence.

He had been told that a family member was terminally ill and said he was giving her the opportunity to put her affairs in order.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Tindall said that while it was a difficult and sensitive time for Oliver’s family she could not rely on the desperate situation to keep her out of prison.

“This was the second time you were involved in this type of dishonesty and had been given a suspended sentence in 2015,” he said.

“Then having got a job you were trusted and spectacularly let them down.”

Judge Tindal imposed six months jail from the suspended sentence and a consecutive 12-month sentence for the latest offence.

An application under the Proceeds of Crime Act showed that Oliver had benefitted by £23,133, but had no realisable assets and Judge Tindal imposed a nominal confiscation order of £1.

The court had heard that Oliver was given a suspended sentence in 2015 after admitting dishonestly using her father’s bank card and her mother’s bank account without permission over a five-year period.

Two months after being in court Oliver was employed by Camden Group Ltd at Stafford Park and she claimed the firm were made aware of her conviction.

The defendant’s job had included handling and banking cash payments and processing orders and invoices.

Oliver had concealed the thefts by adjusting invoice dates, but it came to light in October 2016, when the firm became aware there were no invoices for deliveries that had left their premises.

The offences only stopped when a second person was employed to help with the work.

Mr Danny Smith, for Oliver, said his client had already saved £1,000 towards repaying the money after setting up an online custom jewellery business.

He said his client had been in ‘isolation’ as her family and sisters had previously not been aware she faced going to prison.