Sobbing mum swindled £13,500 from Leeds firm and bought luxury items including personal massager

Thieving Cheryl Farrah, who has been convicted of fraud before, spent a year siphoning the money from the family-run business, HR Fire & Safety Ltd in New Farnley, where she worked as an administrator.

Given access to the company accounts and payroll, she was also trusted make stock purchases, prosecutor Marc Luxford told Leeds Crown Court this week. But at the end of the financial year in 2021/2022, the company owner spotted that items ordered were being delivered to Farrah’s home address.

When challenged, she apologised but insisted the figure was less than half of the correct amount and promised to pay it back. It was eventually found that she had stolen £13,501. Among the items she bought were clothes, a slow cooker, a personal massager and items for her son’s vehicle.

She had also overpaid herself for hours she had not worked, and even awarded herself a bogus salary bonus.

The 50-year-old, of Acre Lane, Eccleshill, Bradford, was arrested and admitted to police to taking the money, but disputed the final amount. She eventually admitted a charge of fraud, and agreed that it totalled £13,501.

In a victim impact statement from the company owner, he said he felt “sick, angry and betrayed” and felt “stupid” for not seeing her deception sooner.

A probation report into her offending said she had initially bought stationery for herself, with the intention of paying it back, but said there “elements of greed that crept in”.

Mitigating on her behalf, Catherine Duffy said she was willing to pay back what she could, despite now being unemployed. She also said Farrah had a young child with questions over his future should she be taken into custody.

She said: “She is absolutely disgusted with the way she has behaved.”

However, the court was told that she had two convictions for eight offences, including making false representation in 2015.

As she sobbed in the dock, the judge, Recorder Sam Green KC, described her behaviour as "cynical dishonesty” and told her: “You may be crying now but you knew very well what you were doing. Despite the tears you would be going straight through the doors with the dock officer, but it would have a very significant, detrimental impact on a child who, through no fault of his own, would be deprived of his mother’s presence because of her dishonesty.

"You fleeced without flinching your employer who put trust in you. It was sustained over a period of time and was an abuse of trust by you who was in an exquisite position.”

He handed her a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, gave her 200 hours of unpaid work and told to pay back £2,000 at a rate of £100 a month.

Recorder Green admitted it was only a “fraction” of what she owed but conceded that she not in a position to pay back the full amount.