Parcel firm treasurer pocketed Help For Heroes charity cash
A parcel firm treasurer pocketed thousands of pounds destined for a work fund that donated to the Help For Heroes charity and paid for the staff Christmas party.
Sarah Jane Spearman was the social club treasurer at theTNT Express depot in Cannock when she took money amounting to around £7,000. She also failed to pay the bill for a Blackpool coach trip for the company where she worked for a decade.
Cannock Magistrates Court heard that the married mother, who had financial problems, made out cheques to herself and kept the money raised by the depot for good causes including Help For Heroes.
Mrs Katie Price, prosecuting, said the matter came light when colleagues checked the social fund's bank account.
She said: "She was the treasurer of the club and took monies by writing cheques and retaining money collected from charity events, and money from a vending machine at the Cannock depot, " she said.
"Over 18 months money had been taken from the fund or had not been paid in when it should have been paid in," Mrs Price said.
Mrs Price said the defendant was also responsible for helping to empty a vending machine, but had 'failed to pay the sums into the bank account, keeping it for herself'. She added rent and tax should have been paid for the vending machine but the firm was informed by the Inland Revenue that those bills were had not been paid by the social fund as there was insufficient money in the account. As a result t and the firm had to foot the £2,000 owed itself.
Mrs Price said that TNT also provided money for each employee who wanted to attend the Christmas party. Spearman inflated the numbers by 30 people and kept the extra £200 received.
She told the court Spearman, of Dove Hollow, Hednesford, also kept a further £400 raised in a day for Help for Heroes.
In total she stole approximately £7,000 from the fund, the court heard.
Spearman, aged 34, admitted one count of theft by employee between October 2012 and February 2014.
Mr Paul Jenkins, defending, said his client had intended to make repayments but "It escalated and she got into a position of no return."
"This lady fully accepted this matter in March in a police interview. She fully admitted the whole sorry sequence of events regarding misappropriation of various monies over that period," he added. "She is married and has two dependent children. She has experienced serious financial difficulties."
He said Spearman was sacked from TNT after a disciplinary hearing.
Magistrates adjourned sentencing until tomorrow for reports. She was granted unconditional bail.
TNT has declined to comment on the case.
