44-year-old Rebecca Hanford, from Skewen, had been working as a cashier at Arbourne’s Premier brand store and Post Office, on New Road in Skewen, since 2010.
Swansea Crown Court heard that as part of that job Hanford would collect cash from the shop tills, log it, and put it in “pods” in the safe.
In May 2021, the shop management found discrepancies with the figures of money leaving the tills to go into the shop’s safe, and with the money that was in the safe itself.
Further checks showed the discrepancies happening at times when Hanford was working at the store.
The court heard that the owners of the store counted the cash in the safe from the previous day’s takings prior to the start of one of Hanford’s shifts and put it back in place. At the end of the day they counted the same cash and found £300 was missing.
Hanford was challenged about the missing money and after first denying any responsibility, then produced the cash from her purse.
Hanford gave a ‘no comment’ interview to Police, with further investigations showing she had stolen a total of £40,431 between October 2020 and July 2021.
Up to September 2020, the business noted a shortfall of approximately £55,000 in their accounts. The business owners told the court that they estimated that the amount of money taken could total up to £100,000, however earlier documents were no longer available to be checked.
After pleading guilty to the theft charges, Hanford claimed that the money had been spent on household bills, although admitted spending £100 a week on lottery tickets and scratch cards.
Judge Geraint Walters sentenced Hanford to 12 months in prison saying he could not begin to understand what the defendant had been spending the stolen money on and had squandered her employers’ money.
Detective Sergeant Simon Davies from South Wales Police said: “Rebecca Hanford’s actions were not only criminal and selfish; they also had a detrimental impact on her colleagues, who were placed under suspicion when the shortfall was discovered.
“She knew what she was doing was wrong, yet she continued. Even worse, she appears to have squandered a significant amount of the money that she stole through gambling. Her claims that she was spending the money on household bills simply did not add up.
“She is now going to prison as a result of her actions, which should be seen as a clear warning to anyone else thinking of participating in this criminal behaviour.”
(Lead image: Google Maps / South Wales Police)
