AN Abingdon lighting business discovered tens of thousands of pounds had been pilfered from their coffers after being warned about a thief who had gone on to steal from a charity, a court heard.

Melanie Goodwin was jailed for 12 months after admitting to fraud and abuse of position when she stole about £80,000 pounds while in control of finances at the company she had worked for for over a decade.

The 59-year-old was found to have stolen the money from Optelma, in Napier Court, Abingdon, after the company was contacted by an educational charity who had lost £250,000 pounds to the thief.

The business conducted an audit and found Goodwin had helped herself to the cash.

Her crime was only discovered after she received a suspended prison sentenced at Croydon Crown Court in 2016 after admitting to theft from PACT, a Catholic education charity.

Bosses there contacted her previous employers Optelma - where she worked from 1992 to 2014 - who found money had gone missing over a two-year period, although two thirds of it had been paid back.

Recorder Richard Prior told Oxford Crown Court that Goodwin had significant credit card debts and became caught in a cycle of theft to stop her husband, who suffered from depression, finding out.

He added: “Mrs Goodwin made a full admission. She explained she was in debt and struggling to repay, and took money to replace it.

“She was always aware that what she was doing was wrong and knew it was only a matter of time, but she felt trapped in the cycle and could not stop.”

Kellie Enever, defending, revealed Goodwin had tried to find her own way of fixing things, resulting her from stealing from her places of work where she was in charge of finances.

Recorder Prior said: “I have had no satisfactory explanation of how the large debts were incurred or as to the amount of those debts. The lack of credible explanation very much suggests that it could have been lifestyle.”

When Optelma searched their records, they found between June 2007 and December 2009 Goodwin stole about £82,532, but repaid £57,876 of the money in a process known as Teeming and Lading.

Recorder Prior said: “You were the financial conductor. That breach of trust could not have been worse and yet it continues. Clearly if all of this had been taken together you would have been subject to an immediate custodial sentence of about five years.” Goodwin, of Peewit Road, Worcester, admitted charges of fraud and false representation.