A SELF-employed phone sales agent - who stole mobiles from her employers while her boss was in hospital with a brain haemorrhage - has avoided jail.

Lucie Holland, 47, cheated Haslingden’s Matrix 247 out of mobiles worth £20,000 over three years, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Holland was given a second chance by the Kingsway firm after irregularities first emerged with her work in 2011, the court heard.

Her colleagues were further upset as she had then carried out a fresh con while one of their directors, Sarah Thornburn, who was overseeing Holland’s work, was hospitalised with a brain haemorrhage, according to prosecutors.

Holland who admitted to fraud and theft, was given a 10-month suspended jail sentence with 30 days' rehabilitation activities and 100 hours' community service.

Passing sentence, Judge Jonathan Gibson accepted she had a “significant mental disorder”.

“What you did caused some financial harm to your employers and had some impact on the business as they had to repair the damage that you caused,” he added.

Lisa Worsley, prosecuting, said Holland was first taken on as a sales agent by Matrix 247 in 2002. But by 2011 directors had begun to suspect Holland of fraud.

The court heard she was kept on, as they had sympathy for her personal circumstances, and she was rehired in a self-employed capacity.

But Miss Worsley said after an anonymous tip-off in 2017, further fraud matters were uncovered and police were alerted.

The court was told Holland took orders from customers, then doctored the invoice to order more handsets, before charging the original agreed price.

Miss Worsley said the firm estimated after studying 20 such orders, their losses were around £20,000.

Anne Waite, defending, said her client disputed the losses incurred, claiming the value was split between herself, in lost commission, and the firm. She also insisted she had been invited back, in 2011, to work on a self-employed basis, because of her sales record.

Holland, of Shaw Street, Bury, had been deeply affected by several family tragedies, the court heard, and suffered from anxiety and depression.