A LEOMINSTER woman fuelled by “greed” stole about £14,000 after setting up fake orders from the equestrian supplies company she worked for, a court heard.

But Donna Evans, 32, of Westfield Walk, escaped immediate jail when she was given a six-month term suspended for 18 months.

She was told to do 240 hours unpaid work in the community and pay £100 victim surcharge after admitting theft between 2012 and last August.

She also faces separate “proceeds of crime” action to reclaim money she stole from M J Ainge, trading as Shires Equestrian Products in Leominster.

Christopher Lester, prosecuting, said Evans worked for the firm for 14 years,initially in the warehouse but later in the telesales department.

The company called police last August because it suspected her of theft and she resigned from her job.

Evans had placed an order for 50 items of accessories and clothing, valued at £511 wholesale, saying it was for Equipet Retail in Ireland, although that company confirmed no order had come from them.

She cancelled the order but the next day sent a dispatch note to the warehouse asking for the items to be packed and suggesting they had been missed from previous deliveries.

Mr Lester said an email was received from a customer complaining about a product and it was found it had been bought not from the firm but from Evans.

It was then found that Evans was selling company products directly to three women.

Mr Lester added that police later found Evans was £10,000 in debt.

John Dyer, defending, said Evans got into a situation where she “simply couldn’t stop”.

He added that Evans came from a hard-working family. Her father worked for the county council, her mother had worked all her life and her partner was a steel erector.

“She has already been punished – she has lost her good reputation,”

added Mr Dyer.

Evans, who was “extremely remorseful”, had got used to extra money, built up credit card debts and “frittered” away the money through greed, the court heard.

Recorder Stuart Sprawson said she had created fake orders in “quite a sophisticated way”. He added it had been a “deliberate and calculated” effort by Evans.

“The only reason was greed – and nothing else,” he said.