Hotel manager ordered to repay stolen money - A Cotswolds hotel manager who stole more than £11,000 from her employers over a four year period has been ordered (September 4) to repay the full amount at a rate of £200 a month.

The court chairman, Simon Pitt, told Chambers of Thrupp Lane, Stroud, that the bench was not punishing her in any other way because until she offended she had always been an 'upstanding citizen.'

It was also clear she was remorseful, that she had not offended in any way since, that there was no risk of her offending again, and that the probation service did not feel she needed any kind of help or intervention in her life, said Mr Pitt.

The court ordered her to repay Greene King £11,115.81 at the rate of £200 a month and she was discharged.

Chambers, who ran the 16th century Hunters Hall pub and hotel in Kingscote, Tetbury, for Greene King, admitted that between July 1, 2013 and November 30, 2017 she committed two offences of fraud by false representation against her employers by giving her personal bank account details to a corporate customer rather than the company's details.

Payments totalling £11.115.81 were then made to her personally by the customer, the Matara wedding venue, instead of to Greene King.

Chambers also admitted two charges of theft of the same sum of money between the same dates.

Prosecutor Ibrar Naqvi told the court that Chambers had worked as a manager for Greene King from September 2009 until November 2017 and she had responsibility for the everyday running of the hotel, restaurant and bar.

One of the customers of the hotel was the Matara wedding company, he said. After she left her employment in 2017 the financial records were checked and it was found that payments had been made to her personal bank account by Matara rather than Greene King's. She had generated invoices for payment by Matara directly to her account.

"She does not deny that she has received these funds," said the prosecutor. ""She described it as being the easiest way to deal with the finances of the hotel and not knowing how to deal with it in any other way.

"She says she has not gained personally as all the money was paid back into the company but she has presented no evidence of people she says she employed to decorate the premises.

"She has in fact used the income for her own personal gain. She provided false information to Matara to enable these frauds to take place.

"There has been an abuse of a position of trust and of responsibility by the defendant. She has pleaded guilty and, to her credit, she does not have any previous convictions on her record. Compensation is sought by Greene King."

Nicky Shaw, defending, asked the court to depart from the normal sentencing guidelines in such a case and to make only a compensation order against her client.

Ms Shaw admitted it was 'quite an unusual' submission to make. She asked the court to consider written references for Chambers from family members and to take into account that she is 'dedicated to her family and is providing support to her grandchildren and to her children to help them excel in their lives and to let them have their dream careers.'

The solicitor said it was 'wonderful' to be representing a defendant who did not need help with drug or alcohol addiction or any kind of intervention from the probation service.

"She has stable accommodation, a decent job and a decent family," said Ms Shaw. "She made an absolutely terrible mistake several years ago now and she needs to be punished for it in some way. But I am asking for a compensation order only. That is for the reasons set out in the pre-sentence report and the character references and also because there are no previous convictions and because of the absolute and obvious remorse that I have seen from her twice now.

"I hope you will not put her in a position where she will lose her liberty and will not be able to continue to look after her grandchildren.

"She earns about £540 a week in her current job - that is after tax. She can pay a decent amount in compensation every month. She also has a partner who is supporting her financially too."

The presiding magistrate told Chambers "We give you full credit for your timely guilty pleas and also for your clear remorse.

"We are also mindful that prior to these offences you have been an upstanding citizen having not offended in any manner. These offences were some time ago and there have been no further offences since this period.

"We are mindful of the probation service advice that no intervention work is required with you and there is no risk of further offending."