A BURSAR who stole £100,000 from a primary school and used it to fund £33,000 in holidays has been jailed for two years and five months.

Preston Crown Court heard Susan Ashworth had stolen the money from Baxenden St John’s Church of England Primary School and also spent £30,000 on her sons’ education, £10,505 on mobile phones and televisions and also repaid £17,000 of mortgage payments.

Jailing her, Judge Beverley Lunt said Ashworth’s crime were motivated by ‘errant greed’ and showed her for showing a lack of remorse.

Judge Lunt said: “There are very many victims, and they are the children who attended the school.

“The whole structure of the school was affected.

“When you retired there were no financial records or proper accounts left behind.

“You forged the head’s signature and duped others into signing cheques which they believed were for proper purposes.”

The court heard Ashworth was found out after a member of Lancashire County Council’s audit team visited the school and discovered she had signed cheques to herself.

Ashworth, 58, had retired when the money was discovered to have gone missing but was charged with theft from employer and money laundering – offences she ultimately pleaded guilty to.

Ashworth, of Dorset Drive, Clitheroe, was initially accused of stealing £142,000 from the school in Church Avenue but the Crown Prosecution Service accepted her basis of plea which stated the outstanding £42,000 was made up of cash withdrawals from the school’s account, which the defendant said was money owed to her for legitimate expenditure.

The court also heard Ashworth has paid back £32,000 to the school. There will be a proceeds of crime hearing later this year.

Speaking at the conclusion of the case, Det Con Robin Costigan said: “This case involved a serious breach of trust by Susan Ashworth who, as the Bursar, was in a position of financial control within the school.

“This large scale theft which took place over a number of years has adversely affected the pupils and the staff and has also caused reputational damage to the school within the local community. Lancashire Constabulary will continue to bring to justice those who seek to profit from fraud and financial crime.”