A NEWPORT woman who said a need to fund her gambling addiction made her steal more than £40,000 from her employer has been jailed.

Elizabeth Fawcett, 53, of Manor Park, worked as a personal assistant for senior managers at communications company Cassidian on the Celtic Springs Industrial Estate in Coedkernew.

Prosecutor Julian Greenwood told Cardiff Crown Court Fawcett had been hired through an agency in 2011 and quickly developed a reputation as personable, trustworthy and that she carried 'an aura of indispensability'.

Later she was handed a two-year fixed-term contract and Judge Tom Crowther told her: “It seems to me that you looked at that as a green light to plunder the company.”

Along with other Cassidian employees she was told she could apply for an American Express business card for business use, Mr Greenwood said.

On that card she would order flights for staff to a host of far-flung places over autumn 2013. They included flights from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi worth about £2,500, to Washington worth £4,081, to Montreal worth £4,500, to Hong Kong worth £5,800 and to San Francisco worth £7,800.

But she would cancel them and then have the money reimbursed into her own bank account rather than the American Express one.

On some occasions she claimed money on flights which other members of staff had properly claimed back themselves.

When Cassidian – which was a subsidiary of Airbus but now trades under that name – discovered the thefts had taken place in October 2013, Fawcett was suspended. She later resigned her position and the company gave her an opportunity to repay a total of £40,234.95 over 2013 and 2014. They later reported it to Gwent Police.

On being arrested she admitted stealing the money and formally admitted her guilt in court last month.

Mr Greenwood said she had told officers: “The first time it was a mistake and the second time it was deliberate. It was so easy I did it time and again.”

He said Fawcett was spending up to £1,000 a day on gambling at the height of her problems. Although she had won big on one £30,000 triumph things quickly took a dive.

Judge Crowther jailed Fawcett, who attended court on crutches and was said to be the main carer for her elderly mother, for 18 months.

She had committed similar offences before, the court heard. In 2003 at Dorchester Crown Court she was sentenced for stealing £38,000 from another company she worked for and convicted of other dishonesty charges in 1990, 1991 and 1992.