A DIVORCEE stole thousands of pounds from the store where she worked to spite her employer for not promoting her, a court heard.

Shirley Beckway, 54, pocketed £2,611.14 in fake refunds from Homebase in Orpington over a period of six months to May.

Her thefts were uncovered when a fraud investigation team piloted a new type of software on the tills in the store in Sevenoaks Way.

Beckway, of Kevington Drive, St Paul's Cray, admitted copying customers' receipts and later refunded some of the items in order to pocket the cash herself.

She admitted doing this up to 50 times.

Beckway, who was too ashamed to tell her family she'd been caught, sat quietly crying in the dock at Croydon Crown Court.

Judge Roger Chapple (corr)read a report saying she had been upset at not being promoted in the five years she worked at Homebase and was taking her frustration out by stealing from her employer.

Her basic wage was £6 an hour. She lost her job after her crimes came to light.

She told police in interview: "I am totally to blame and I'm not blaming anyone else. It was a stupid thing to do, I'm dreadfully sorry."

She also said: "Everybody makes mistakes in life, don't they. This is a big one ad I will never do it again."

The judge told her: "It is all together wretched to see you in the dock of a criminal court, 54 years of age and never having been in any sort of trouble at all."

He added: "Justice must be tempered with mercy. I take the view, just that I can avoid sending you to prison."

He sentenced her to a community order of 200 hours unpaid work and ordered her to pay the full amount in compensation to Homebase plus £225 legal costs.