£13,000 Specsavers thief caught on CCTV

A Specsavers worker who stole £13,000 from the firm after her husband left her has been spared jail.

Sarah Chance was caught out after CCTV footage showed her putting money which was meant for the safe in her handbag.

The 34-year-old wept as she was given a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Judge John Warner also sentenced her to 180 hours of unpaid work. Chance worked as an administrator at Stourbridge Specsavers from March 2006 to October 2007.

Her responsibilities included cashing up at the end of the day but the company's accounts department soon noticed discrepancies and sent in an investigator.

Mr Julian Elcock, prosecuting, said: "CCTV footage showed her cashing up and the money being bagged.

"Some of it went into the safe and some of it went into her handbag."

Chance, of Oakfield Road, Wollescote, Stourbridge, was arrested on October 8 last year.

She later pleaded guilty to the £13,000 theft.

Miss Samantha Powis, defending, said that her client had started to steal to care for her nine-year-old daughter after her husband left.

She said that she suffered from depression and also had to look after her disabled mother.

"She couldn't cope with her change of finances," Miss Powis said.

"Her debts spiralled out of control, they were totally unmanageable.

"She is so sorry for what she did."

She added that Chance was now working at the Cedars care home in Stourbridge and wanted to make an effort to repay her former employers.

Judge Warner told Chance: "You were in a position of trust and you broke that trust.

"It is a fact of life that all sorts of people find themselves in financial difficulties but happily not many turn to dishonesty.

"Unfortunately you turned to criminal activity.

"You are very fortunate not to be going to prison."