Thief to pay back only £400

Friday 12th June 2009, 11:08AM BST.

A Shropshire finance officer who stole £22,000 from the arts centre where she worked and splashed out on a holiday and a shopping spree has been ordered to pay back £437 by a crown court judge.

Katie Goodwin-Self, 27, of Shipton, near Much Wenlock, was said to have just a few hundred pounds of assets, including a car and some cash, a court heard yesterday.

It means she will not have to pay back the full sum unless she suddenly comes into a large amount of money.

Goodwin-Self was released early from the 12-month prison sentence she was given in August. She had admitted theft from bosses at the Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton.

She took a total of £21,970 over an 11-month period.

At a Proceeds of Crime Hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, Judge Nicholas Webb ordered her to pay £437.18 in compensation to the Light House.

He added: “If you were to win the lottery, you may be liable to pay the balance.”

View more: Market Drayton news.