Store manager thief escapes jail sentence

May 16 2008 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

AN EMPLOYEE of a city centre shoe shop who stole more than £10,000 from her employers was spared jail.

Anne Marie Jones, 24, was deputy manageress at Russell and Bromley, Eastgate Street, Chester.

She used her position to process false refunds totalling £10,193.46 from October 2006 to September 2007.

Her employers became suspicious when she refunded a bag that had only gone on sale that day and she was questioned by police.

By this time, she had pocketed £4,638.46 on to her debit card and £5,555 as cash.

Jones, who pleaded guilty to two counts of theft at Chester Magistrates’ Court on April 14, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Monday.

The system of refunds in place meant junior members of staff, who had been asked to countersign the refunds, were also questioned but no others were found to be complicit.

Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said Jones had “abused the system and her management position”.

Richard Thomas, defending, said Jones, of Tan Y Felin, Holywell, had been tempted to steal money when her partner of five years had an affair.

She moved out of the home they had bought in Blacon and had tried to repay debts of £8,000, half of which was a loan in her ex-partner’s name, even taking a second job.

As a result, she suffered from anxiety and depression and started using cannabis, making her problems worse and building up a debt with a drug dealer.

Her severely epileptic sister had also become reliant on her for support after she had been left to cope alone with a two-week-old baby in November 2007.

She received a six-month suspended jail sentence and was ordered to repay the money and carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.