The filling station manager accused of thieving nearly £85,000 from the Blue Bell garage has been found guilty.
As reported in today’s Northern Echo, Avril Henderson was yesterday found guilty at Durham Crown Court of helping herself to the cash over a five-year period.
But the 63-year-old, of Brockwell Close in the town, has been told she won’t be jailed due to her age and previous good character.
Henderson was accused of taking the money from cash receipts at the Blue Bell garage between March 2005 and October 2010.
Durham Crown Court heard that she worked at the station, initially as a cashier from 1993, and as manager from 2001.
The Upex Group took control in 2003 and Henderson paid £250 monthly rental, while also employing four part-time staff.
But the court heard that after initially considering it a “gold mine”, sales gradually dried up, particularly after a new superstore, with a filling station selling cheaper petrol, opened nearby in 2007.
Henderson was said to have taken increasingly larger sums of cash to help her overcome personal financial difficulties.
She was alleged to have made up for the shortfall by inflating business accounts sales by similar amounts on daily summary sheets submitted to Upex.
An accounts clerk at Upex spotted a discrepancy in the figures in October 2010.
Subsequent checks revealed shortfalls of £1,000 in 2005, nearly £5,000 in 2006, £5,500 in 2007, £16,500 in 2008, £32,000 in 2009, and a further £24,000 by the time the error came to light in October, 2010.
Henderson was dismissed in November 2010 and, following inquiries, was charged with theft of £84,995.
Denying the charge, she said, in evidence, she never stole any money, although she accepted she had sole access to the cash and to the station’s safe key.
She denied prosecutor Shaun Dryden’s suggestion that she “dipped into the till” to help meet her mounting debts.
Henderson told the court she worked hard at the station, rarely took holidays and did not have an extravagant lifestyle.
But after half-an-hour deliberation on the third day of the trial, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
Adjourning sentence to allow for the preparation of background reports, Recorder Graham Hyland told Henderson: “This is a sad day for you. You’ve lost the good character you’ve enjoyed for 63 years.
“It’s that good character, principally, which will allow me to suspend the inevitable prison sentence, as I will do next week.”
He said because of her illhealth she will be unable to perform unpaid work. She was bailed to return for sentence next Wednesday.
