A YOUNG Argos worker swindled nearly £40,000 from the store in a bid to help her ex-partner out of trouble.

Zara Iqbal, 23, of Como Avenue, Girlington, appeared at Bradford Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced after pleading guilty to a single charge of fraud at Bradford Magistrates' Court earlier this month,

Adam Walker, prosecuting, told the court that the issue was flagged up last year and it emerged that Iqbal, who worked at the Forster Square branch of the store, had been making fraudulent refunds to various members of her family and extended family.

The money was then transferred back into her bank account, totalling just over £38,800.

A thorough investigation was carried out by store security staff and police.

Mr Walker said that when Iqbal was interviewed by police, she immediately confessed her guilt and was adamant her friends and family did not know of the fraud, which took place between December 2016 and March 2018.

The court heard she told police that her boyfriend was in trouble and that was her motivation behind the offending.

She did not spend the money and even sent a letter of apology and a cheque in full compensation for the fraud to Argos earlier this year.

Jessica Heggie, for Iqbal, said the money was not used for a lavish lifestyle, but was a result of pressure from an ex-partner to help with debts he had incurred from a drug habit. She also highlighted Iqbal's role as primary carer for her father.

In sentencing, His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose said the fact that Iqbal involved her family and friends, who were not in any sense willing participants, was a "particularly serious" aspect of the case, exposing them to prosecution and prison sentences.

But he said her immaturity was of particular significance to the case and that she had been under the "malignant influence" of another and she did not have the "maturity or strength of character" to resist the pressure on her.

"You were at the time a person who was susceptible to undue pressure," Judge Rose told Iqbal, who appeared shaken throughout the hearing.

"You thought you were doing the right thing to help him."

He added: "You were, of course, horribly wrong."

Iqbal, who the court heard is studying a postgraduate diploma to become a physician's associate, received a 16-month sentence, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to carry out 25 days rehabilitation requirement and 240 hours of unpaid work in the community.