A check-out operator from Morrisons in Starbeck has been jailed for 10 months and ordered to repay £8,658 that she stole from her supermarket employer.
Trina Howard, 47, of Durham Way, Harrogate, was ordered to repay the money under the Proceeds of Crime Act at a hearing at York Crown Court on Tuesday 4 June 2019.
Ms Howard previously pleaded guilty to stealing more than £8,000 in cash, and make-up worth £40.50, from Morrisons in Starbeck.
The company became suspicious after a stock-taking exercise revealed their tobacco kiosk was making losses of thousands of pounds.
A company investigator then observed Howard during two days in November 2018 and saw that on just one of the days, although she had dealt with 35 cash sales transactions, none were put through the till.
They were recorded as “no sale” and the money stored in a compartment until the end of the day, at which point, Ms Howard was observed removing the cash from the till.
She was arrested on 8 November 2018 and pleaded guilty to two counts of theft at the first opportunity when she appeared at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court on 4 April 2019.
The case was sent to Crown Court for a joint sentencing and confiscation hearing.
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, a confiscation order was granted by the court in the sum of £8,658.99 the amount of benefit that could be proved in court. The money will be repaid to Morrisons.
Financial Investigator, PC Emma Harris, of North Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said:
The Proceeds of Crime Act ensures that not only can criminals face conviction in the courts, but we can also target their pockets to ensure that their criminality does not pay.
Ms Howard took advantage of her position as a store assistant with the result that she now has a criminal record. Thankfully she pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, saving time and additional cost to the public purse.
