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Crumlin NHS worker bought hot tub with 'extra' salary | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
An NHS worker who knew she was being paid two salaries for two years by mistake was caught after bragging about buying a hot tub, ball gown and having a house extension, a court heard. | |
Telephone operator Ann Barnes, 47, of Crumlin, near Caerphilly, admitted stealing £13,326 from Aneurin Bevan Health Board. | |
Cardiff Crown Court heard Barnes has since paid the money back. | |
She was given a five-month suspended jail term and do 80 hours unpaid work. | |
The court heard mother-of-two Barnes was struggling in her part-time job when she started getting a double salary due to an NHS administration error. | |
Barnes received £33,000 pay for 16.5 hours-a-week work instead of the £19,954 she should have been paid. | Barnes received £33,000 pay for 16.5 hours-a-week work instead of the £19,954 she should have been paid. |
But she did not say anything and was caught when she started talking about spending money on luxuries, including holidays and a house extension, the court was told. | But she did not say anything and was caught when she started talking about spending money on luxuries, including holidays and a house extension, the court was told. |
Her manager at the out-of-hours GP service told the court how she noticed Barnes went from "rags to riches" due to the double pay mistake. | Her manager at the out-of-hours GP service told the court how she noticed Barnes went from "rags to riches" due to the double pay mistake. |
Line manager Ann Poyner said Barnes thought she would lose her home in 2006 because of financial difficulties. | Line manager Ann Poyner said Barnes thought she would lose her home in 2006 because of financial difficulties. |
But Mrs Poyner said Barnes' financial problems "seemed to disappear". | But Mrs Poyner said Barnes' financial problems "seemed to disappear". |
Hot tub | Hot tub |
She said: "I offered her a bank holiday shift thinking she would need the money because of her previous financial problems. | |
"I was a bit shocked when she said she couldn't work the shift because she was going for a meal with her husband. | "I was a bit shocked when she said she couldn't work the shift because she was going for a meal with her husband. |
"She said she was then going to a garden centre to look at buying a hot tub. | |
"After 2009 she started talking about buying an expensive ball gown for her daughter's graduation, a holiday and having an extension built on her house." | |
Mrs Poyner eventually contacted payroll after realising something was not right and Barnes was arrested, the court heard. | Mrs Poyner eventually contacted payroll after realising something was not right and Barnes was arrested, the court heard. |
The double pay blunder began in 2009 when Barnes was given a promotion and a pay rise but after the promotion, she was paid two salaries due to the administrative error by NHS office staff. | |
The court heard payroll officer Saide Titcombe spotted Barnes was receiving two wages and queried it with her but Barnes lied that she had two jobs for the NHS. | |
Prosecutor Nicholas Gedge said: "Barnes then got away with dishonestly receiving two wages for two years." | |
Robert Hawkins, defending, said Barnes paid the health board back from her husband's redundancy money. | |
Mr Hawkins added: "She was a woman of previously good character and it has caused her much anxiety." | |
Sentencing, Judge Stephen Hopkins said: "You were clearly very highly thought of at work. Initially the double payment was an administrative error, but your vice was that you didn't correct it. | |
"The fact you will repay the outstanding sum is good but you cannot pay your way out of it." |