Whitwell: Ex-Sainsbury’s manager stole £8k

Anita Bridger, 52, of Portland Street, Whitwell, made 30 transactions to her own card between January and December 2013, using a manual refund system at the supermarket.

The court heard that her husband was an alcoholic and he did not make any financial contributions to the household so she was struggling with day-to-day costs.

Prosecuting, Ruth Snowdin, said that Anita had told police that she become ‘tempted’ after thinking to herself, ‘if only I had that money.’

Defence solicitor, David Verity, said his client had done it out of ‘desperation,’ that it ‘snowballed’ out of control and that she was ‘relieved’ when it was all over.

He added: “It was completely out of character and she is deeply remorseful.”

She said that she would choose a value from the list of orders on the system and refund it back to herself.

She did not always choose the highest value and stated the money was not spent on ‘luxurious.’

The mother of two, who was in charge of 45 members of staff at the store was suspended immediately from her position and later lost her job.

She pleaded guilty at Worksop Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and was given a community order, 150 hours unpaid work, £85 court costs and £60 victim surcharge.