A BUSINESS owner described a former employee, who has been accused of stealing more than £225,000, as her ‘right-hand woman and friend’.

Preston Crown Court heard Yvonne Cannings had a close relationship with June Elizabeth Watson, who has denied stealing £211,270 from ABN Financial LTD and £13,915 from ABN Property Partnerships over a five-year period in Accrington.

Giving evidence, Mrs Cannings said: “We did all sorts of things together, she slept at my house, I slept at hers, we went on holiday together.

“She was a friend in work as well as a friend out of it.”

When asked if Watson could be described as her right-hand woman at the time, she said “absolutely.” The court heard Watson was aware Mrs Canning’s son, Ben, had died of cancer when he was 15 in 1999.

While giving evidence, Mrs Cannings accused the defendant of stealing £120 the day she buried her son’s ashes.

She said: “In July 2011 we buried Ben’s ashes, he had a beautiful headstone.

“She was aware of that, we went to see the headstone on numerous occasions.”

The court heard Mrs Cannings was a solicitor before setting up both ABN businesses in 2004 and 2005. The thefts were allegedly carried out between February 2011 and June 2016.

Watson’s role as a financial manager the business was to deal with financial matters, including banking and administration.

The jury was told Mrs Cannings had been recommended Watson, 49, by two good friends who knew she was looking for work.

Prosecutor Peter Barr asked where the businesses bank cards were kept and who knew the locations of them.

On June 20, 2016, Mrs Cannings had a phone meeting with her bank manager, Dale Parkinson, and initially believed her bank balance was at a healthy state, due to the business doing well.

However the jury was told Mr Parkinson needed to speak to Mrs Cannings because the ABN Financial LTD account was “really, really overdrawn.”

Mrs Cannings said: “We were nearly £70,000 overdrawn, I expected it to be a positive balance.”

The court heard Mrs Cannings went to see Watson at her home to confront her about the money.

When asked about what happened by Mr Barr, Mrs Cannings said: “She said she had stolen around £60,000 at this stage. But I knew it was more than £60,000."

“She said that she had obtained a forward advance on her mortgage, which was untrue.

“I knew she had taken the money, I was in shock.

“I was not angry with her.”

When asked by Mr Barr what happened next, Mrs Cannings said Watson said she would make arrangements to repay the money.

She said: “She went upstairs and almost as if she was expecting me, she came downstairs with around £3,000 she was saving for her wedding.

“She gave me two sets of keys and a log book.”

The court heard she also signed over part of her house.

Mrs Cannings denied asking Watson to withdraw the money and denied withdrawing the money herself.

During cross examination from Hugh Barton, defending Watson, Mrs Cannings was asked if she put pressure on the defendant when she visited her house.

Mrs Cannings said: “I did not put any pressure on her, I was very calm, I did not raise my voice.”

Mr Barton suggested Mrs Cannings asked Watson to perform ‘creative accounting’ relating to the cash withdrawals, which Mrs Canning denied.

Watson, of Robinson Street, Colne, denies two counts of theft.

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