A finance assistant who earned a modest £900 a month stole £100,000 from her employer to fund an Instagram lifestyle, a court has heard. Laura Howarth, 41, spent the money that belonged to British Independent Utilities on lavish items including an SUV, VIP concert tickets and expensive hair extensions.
The Blackpool mum became intent on copying the lifestyles of other glamourous women - including her boss's wife - posting snapshots of living the dream to social media, reports Lancashire Live. The reality was, however, that Laura, who stole every week, owed thousands to payday loan companies.
Preston Crown Court heard how the Blackpool resident even went as far as applying to increase credit card limits to allow her to syphon up to £6,000 a month from the Lytham St Annes company. And when the thefts first came to light in August 2018, she claimed she had shared the money with her work colleagues.
Jailing Howarth for 10 months, Judge Richard Gioserano said: "You stole a great deal of money to provide a lifestyle you couldn't afford - a glimpse of which can be seen on your Instagram account." The court learned she took up her position in 2013, and was responsible for petty cash and expense accounts.
Almost immediately, however, according to Stuart Neale prosecuting, she began stealing - withdrawing £50 from a Royal Bank of Scotland ATM, despite cash withdrawals being forbidden by the company. Howarth then added the money to a legitimate expense claim, entering it onto the company's accounting system to make the books appear to balance.
Realising she could get away with it, she then went on to withdraw up to £3,000 a month - only stopping when she went on holiday and maternity leave. In November 2016 she managed to spend a staggering £6,000 in a single month. It was only in August 2018 that financial controller Chris Russell - who was reviewing company credit cards - happened to spot that one used by Howarth had been used to make a withdrawal.
Mr Russell, unable to find the card statements filed away, later discovered one on Howarth's desk. An investigation was subsequently launched, which resulted in her suspension from the company. That night, she contacted her employer via WhatsApp, saying: "I'm sorry for everything."
Despite the confession, Howarth maintained her innocence to her friends and colleagues right up until pleading guilty to the theft. Company owner Russ Priestley said: "I have worked over 100 hours a week, sacrificing social time and time with my family to build this business up. These events have made me question my choices and fundamentally make me look at people differently."
Mr Priestley added that he first had his suspicions after spotting Howarth driving around in a Kia Sportage, before noticing her and her husband sat behind him at a £500 per ticket comedy show. And over the course of the investigation, he said the disgraced employee manipulated colleagues and drove a wedge between members of staff, who were left unable to know who to believe. #
Anthony Parkinson, defending, said his client had always been a hard worker and had no previous convictions. The impact of her offending would be felt by her wider family, he added.
Sentencing, Judge Gioserano said: "You (Howarth) attempted to conceal your thefts with false accounting, and you did so over a long period of time. You not only covered your tracks but you increased the card limit so that you could steal more. You tried to blame others in the sense that you said what you had withdrawn had been given to other employees - and that was a very limited pool.
"Most of all, you accept you stole this money not to alleviate genuine financial hardship, not to pay for private hospital treatment for a sick member of your family, but to fund a lifestyle you couldn't otherwise afford. Honest, hardworking people, work hard to try and afford this, and if they can't afford it in that way they simply accept that. They do not resort to theft in order to fund it."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
