Woman jailed for £39,000 theft

A ROYTON woman has been jailed for four years for stealing more than £39,000 from her employers of more than 25 years.

Sally Etchells (45) of Church Street, was found guilty at Bolton Crown Court of two counts of fraud.

She was office manager for vehicle bodybuilding firm Ken Rosebury Limited, Rochdale, where she was responsible for payroll and general financial transactions.

In November 2010, when Etchells was off work for a day, the company manager checked the payroll and noticed £25 had been paid into the defendant’s personal account. Inquiries showed further payments to her friends.

The company found that between April 2008 and November 2010, Etchells had overpaid herself by more than £25,000 — including more than £1,800 to a woman who stabled her seven horses.

After being confronted at work, Etchells was asked to leave - erasing the company payroll system to try to remove any trace of her thefts before she went.

She was later found to have paid another £14,000 into her own account over three years — disguising the transfers as payments to other companies and the Inland Revenue.

Det-Con Mark Zebrowski, from Rochdale CID, said: “Etchells was a trusted member of staff. She took large amounts of money at the time the workforce was on a three-day week fighting to keep their jobs.

“Her actions nearly caused the closure of a respected and trusted local company which employs over 30 people.”