Admin worker stole £16k from family-run company

Report by BBC Isle of Man.

An admin worker who stole more than £16,000 from a family-run construction firm on the Isle of Man has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Angela Townend stole the money on repeated occasions from Stephen Christian & Sons Ltd in Kirk Michael between December 2022 and March 2024, leaving the business "devastated".

Douglas Courthouse heard the 50-year-old, who pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft, was the only person outside the family to have access to the company's business account.

Deemster Graeme Cook handed her a 20-month sentence but agreed to suspend it for two years.

The court heard she had made several unauthorised transactions to her own account and two to a family member's account.

She then concealed the imbalanced business accounts through the digital records and, as she was trusted, the account was not monitored.

Townend's employers eventually noticed the missing money and confronted her via email, to which she replied with false explanations.

She was arrested on 18 March 2024 and when interviewed admitted to officers she did it to "make ends meet".

In a victim impact statement read to the court, company director Susan Christian said the theft had a "devastating impact" and had resulted in the operation downsizing and restructuring.

She said Townend had been "afforded everything she needed", given a "good salary" and time off whenever she needed - but that was "thrown back into our faces".

Townend's defence advocate said the money had been used to support her son through university and she suffered from mental health issues, with the offending coinciding with periods where she was struggling.

The court heard she had previously been cautioned for stealing £7,769 from her former employer, a payroll firm, in 2020.

She is now in full-time employment with her current employers aware of the offences and she no longer handles finances, her defence said.

Deemster Graeme Cook said he had agreed to suspend the sentence due to her chance of rehabilitation in the community.

He also said she did not pose a threat to the public aside from handling finances, which she had stepped back from.