A SUPERMARKET team leader dipped her hand into the till repeatedly and stole more than £6,000 when she got into debt, a court heard.

Shop worker Sarah Power found a way of cheating her bosses at the Co-op over a seven-month period at their Oswaldtwistle store, Burnley Crown Court was told.

The 27-year-old, of Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, found that she could legitimately void a cash payment, halfway through, and pocket money from customers, the court heard.

Prosecutor Stephen Parker said Power began by taking a relatively small amount, around £8. But over the following months, she stole £400, then £500, before the losses started reaching £1,700 and £1,800.

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The court heard that when Power was on holiday the number of void transactions was seen to drop dramatically and other staff members became suspicious of her behaviour.

An investigation was mounted by Co-op auditors and it was initially thought that just over £3,000 had been taken. But subsequent checks of financial records showed that £6,035 was missing overall.

Interviewed by the retailer’s management, Power fully admitted stealing the money and was immediately dismissed. Because of the scale of the losses, the company then called in the police.

Questioned later by police, she said that the thefts had started after she found herself in debt. This had ‘spiralled out of control’ and she found herself in a worse and worse position while trying to manage her personal finances.

Anthony Parkinson, defending, said: “Her remorse in this case is genuine and has been demonstrated throughout, from the moment she was taken to task by the company.“She has no previous convictions. This conviction will carry with it an inevitable stigma and led to the loss of her good name. People in the local area will know about her offending and she will have difficulty in securing employment in this field again.”

The court was told she was now on a repayment plan to manage her debts.

Power, who pleaded guilty to thefts between January and July last year, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.