Shop employee ordered to pay back £2,000 she stole £20 at a time from boss who trusted her
A woman has been ordered to pay back the £2,000 she stole from the till of the shop where she had been a trusted employee.
Telford Magistrates Court was told that Amy Shaw, aged 32, of Underhill Street, Bridgnorth, and her partner of 11 years could not afford food or heating when she wrongly decided to steal instead of asking for help.
Shaw pleaded guilty to stealing the money £20 a time from the till of Mother Goodies shop in Bridgnorth between May 3, 2022 and August 19, 2022.
Shop owner Dawn Jones described the devastating impact on her of having an employee she had trusted taking money from the till.
In a victim impact statement read to the court on Tuesday, she had initially denied that the loss of income could have been caused by theft by a member of staff. But after installing CCTV cameras that looked over the till the devastating evidence was revealed.
Hannah Baddeley, prosecuting, said Shaw had not been recording sales on the till and had been taking it out.
Reading the victim impact statement she said owner Dawn Jones had thought Shaw was hard-working and reliable and had given her a job. She now struggles to drive past the thief's house.
"But once she realised what had happened she felt sick and stupid and had missed many red flags," said the prosecutor.
"She had been struggling to raise £1,000 to buy her stock of crystals, incense and jewellery and could not understand it."
And after the cameras revealed the truth, she said she struggled to speak to Shaw knowing that she was a liar.
