Former betting shop manager stole to pay £4,000 drug dealers debts (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Manager at Bradford stores stole more than £18,000 from shops

6:30pm Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News

A former betting shop manager sobbed in the dock as a judge heard she was being hounded for a drug debt when she stole £18,000 from her employer.

Micheala Lesniarek, 22, was a cocaine addict when she ran up a £4,000 debt with dealers that soon inflated to £15,000, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Lesniarek, of Eskdale Rise, Allerton , pleaded guilty to stealing more than £18,229 from Ladbrokes when she was duty manager at Kirkgate and James Street, Bradford, shops last October and November last .

She was given eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 120 hours of unpaid work. She was ordered to pay Ladbrokes £1,200 compensation.

Her solicitor advocate, Phillip Ainge, said she was in terror for herself and her family if she did not repay the dealers. She was bitterly regretted her dishonesty.