A SHOP assistant stole over £1,100 using false receipts, a court heard yesterday.
Kelly Marie Dixon printed duplicate receipts and redeemed them for £1,109.44 cash at B&Q, Leeds Road Retail Park, Huddersfield magistrates were told.
The court heard Dixon, 23, of Ochrewell Avenue, Deighton, had worked at the store for eight years.
But she had stolen the money during the last months of her job between September and December, to offset family debts, the court was told.
Defending her, solicitor Marc Brookes said Dixon had suffered ‘substantial financial difficulties’ and loans had ‘cast a shadow’ over her family.
He said: “Matters got too much ... and temptation got the better of her.”
Mr Brookes added Dixon had admitted the thefts to her employer and the police at an early opportunity.
Dixon, a mother, was handed a one-year community order with 100 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £265 of the money back to B&Q.
Sentencing her, bench chairman Barry Bedford said: “Theft from an employer is taken as a very serious matter. It is a breach of trust.
“We have taken into account the timely guilty plea and co-operation with the store and the police.
“You are of good character but it is a significant amount of money.”
