A WAGES clerk who fleeced £33,000 from her employers wept as she was jailed for two years.

Gaynor Davis, 45, used her knowledge of the system to transfer cash due to former employees into four different accounts.

Southampton Crown Court heard it was not long after she had started working for Foremost, a Ringwood catering company, that she began stealing cash.

But a routine audit revealed discrepancies and following an investigation, the paper trail led back to her. None of the cash has been recovered.

“You were in a position in a high degree of trust,” said Judge Gary Burrell QC, passing sentence.

“Your actions were planned and premeditated. You say you took the money to pay others. That may be an explanation but it does not provide any excuse.”

Davis, of Gorley Road, Ringwood, admitted theft.

The court heard she had been given a community service order in 2006 for dishonestly obtaining £10,000 in social security money. “You were then given a golden opportunity to sort your life out and deal with the past,” said the judge.

In mitigation, Ahmed Hussain spoke of Davis’s debts and problems with loan sharks, saying: “The money wasn’t taken to fund an extravagent lifestyle.”

“Her remorse is genuine, she is now jobless and employment will be difficult to find,” he said.