Cashier stole thousands for spree

A cashier has been found guilty of stealing thousands of pounds to feed her love of shopping.

Sheila Chivers, 55, worked at Fortnum and Mason for nearly two decades before she began stealing from her employers, Southwark Crown Court heard.

The mother-of-two stole more than £90,000 for jewellery, clothes, a new bathroom and building work on her home in Mitcham, south London.

She was convicted of 10 counts of theft between July 2005 and May 2006.

'Test theft'

As time passed she became bolder, graduating from an initial "test" theft of £800 to £18,000 in the busy weeks before Christmas.

She was caught when an office trainee noticed money missing from the accounts at the store in Piccadilly, central London.

I am bound to say the evidence against you was absolutely overwhelming. Judge Gregory Stone

Further inquiries not only revealed each of the 95 thefts occurred only when she was on duty, but found a one-month absence of disappearances coincided precisely with her four-week holiday.

Chivers refused to confess to the crime, saying "someone else" must have been the thief.

She explained that the extra money used to fund her expenses came from her two sons.

But Judge Gregory Stone said: "I am bound to say the evidence against you was absolutely overwhelming.

"You must realise you face a prison sentence when you come back to court."