A desperate mum stole more than £6,000 from her employer because she had mortgage arrears, a court heard today.

Stephanie Fielding, who gave birth to a second child about a month ago, was facing the threat of repossession when she took the money from the garage business at Cross Hills, near Keighley, where she had worked for a decade.

Prosecutor Peter Hampton told Bradford Crown Court that the 33-year-old was employed as an administration clerk for Cars2 Ltd, which was based at Kildwick Crossing Garage.

In February an audit revealed that £6,209 was missing and Fielding later admitted that she had stolen the money and used it to pay off some of her arrears.

Fielding, of Hargreaves Street, Cross Hills, pleaded guilty to the theft charge when she appeared at Skipton Magistrates' Court last month and today broke down in tears as Judge Roger Scott told her he was not sending her to prison.

After hearing that Fielding, who had no previous convictions, had been dismissed from her job for gross misconduct Judge Scott told her that he was going to impose a community sentence with a supervision requirement for 12 months.

He warned Fielding that she faced three months in prison if she breached the order.

“It is quite impossible to send you to custody,” said Judge Scott.

“You have a young child and it’s quite wrong for you to go into New Hall even though it is a very good establishment that looks after babies and mothers very well.

“But I’m not in the business of sending young women such as you to custody with your responsibilities.

“You felt desperate about losing your home and the threat of repossession. Unhappily that is something we hear an awful lot about nowadays.”

Judge Scott warned Fielding she could still face difficulties because the prosecution was seeking a confiscation order against her.