CAB theft accused 'earned money'

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A former manager accused of theft of £650,000 from the Citizens' Advice Bureau has told a jury of the extra hours she and her husband put in.

Sally Foster told Swansea Crown Court she worked without a break and would take a "big bag of work" home from the office in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.

Mrs Foster denies 10 charges of theft and six of false accounting. Husband Dale, 65, denies 10 theft charges.

"I didn't steal it, I earned it. Dale earned it," said the 49-year-old.

Mrs Foster said she worked from 7am until 4pm and sometimes put in a further seven hours of work before retiring to bed.

She said her husband Dale, who helped her to run the bureau, also did untold hours of unpaid work, often in the evening and at weekends, maintaining and developing information technology systems.

Mrs Foster told the jury they had decided not to pay themselves for the extra hours until the bureau was in a healthy financial situation.

'Wiping her computer clean'

Mrs Foster said this explained invoices the couple submitted to the bureau once substantial contracts had been won and the bureau was in a position to pay.

Mrs Foster said the cost of a 42-inch plasma TV, initially paid for by the bureau but found at the Fosters' home, had been deducted from such an invoice.

"I have always worked hard," she told the jury.

"I enjoyed the job and I was pleased to see all the people we were helping."

Mrs Foster said she could not explain why the police could find no record of Perkins and Co, said to be a London firm of accountants that had audited one of the bureau's annual returns.

She said she had posted the accounts to an address provided to her and had received what appeared to be a properly audited set of accounts in return.

Answering a question from defence barrister Rupert Mayo, she responded that she had never stolen any money from the bureau.

"I didn't steal it, I earned it. Dale earned it," she said.

The Fosters, who live in the maritime quarter in Swansea, resigned in April 2006.

Mrs Foster also denied wiping her computer clean or taking away financial records.

The prosecution claims the Fosters spent the money on high living, including champagne, holidays, jewellery, fine art, hotels and furniture.

The trial continues.