A SIXTH Form College catering manager stole £30,000 over the course of a year from the students’ cash machine in the cafeteria, a court heard.

But Deborah Barrett who had held the position for 14 years, escaped with a suspended prison sentence “by a whisker” after a judge was told she committed the crime through “desperation” over her family finances.

Barrett, 51, of Little Marcle, near Ledbury, admitted stealing the money between September 2013 and October 2014 when appearing before Worcester Crown Court.

Paul Whitfield, prosecuting, said at Worcester Sixth Form College stocked the automatic cash dispenser with about £5,000 a week taken from its own bank account and the money withdrawn by students was later reimbursed by the service providers.

Barrett loaded up the machine each day with money provided by the finance officer and, at the end of the day, she removed the cassette containing the cash to put in the safe.

But, towards the end of 2014, discrepancies were found by the finance manager, which could not be accounted for by an error, added Mr Whitfield.

Barrett, who at first denied any wrong-doing, later confessed to police that she had taken around £30,000.

She said receipts for the machine had been thrown away and she had kept no records.

Mark Sheward, defending, said Barrett had been the breadwinner for her family, while her husband was working as a barman after his business fell into difficulty.

They had debts of around £25,000 and she then saw an opportunity to take money from the cash machine and put it directly into her own bank account.

“The offence was committed in desperation, at a time when she was juggling finances – they were in dire financial circumstances,” added Mr Sheward.

Barrett had lost her job at the college but was now working for another catering business and her new employers were aware of her involvement in the court case.

She had pledged to pay £10,000 – borrowed from her mother-in-law – back to the college within 21 days and would then arrange a loan on her home to repay the rest, said Mr Sheward.

Judge Richard Rundell sentenced Barrett to two years’ prison, suspended for two years, and ordered her to do 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

She was also ordered to pay £30,000 compensation and £540 court costs.

The judge told Barrett: “You have come within a whisker of going to prison.

“This was a serious offence – it was clearly a breach of trust.”