by Paul Hooper

A Canterbury law firm found itself the victim of crime... after being ripped off by one of its employees.

Samantha Morris, 39, was the legal cashier at Parry Law Solicitors in Oxford Street until September last year when she left for a new life in Cornwall.

It was only later that another cashier spotted that the mum-of-one had been helping herself to sums of between £1,500 and £5,000 for two-and-a-half years.

Andrew Espley told Canterbury Crown Court heard that when the firm checked the books they discovered £48,500 missing.

Morris, now of St Austell, had been living in Dover at the time of the thefts between January 2009 and November 2011.

She pleaded guilty to theft by an employee and was jailed for 21 months.

The prosecutor said that Morris managed to conceal the missing cash by juggling with figures each time an audit was carried out.

He said: "She had been employed as a legal cashier but left in September 2011, Then another cashier approached Stephen Parry in November to say she had found that money had been regularly transferred into Ms Morris’ bank account."

Morris was questioned by police and said she had been in "serious debt" and had started taking out pay-day loans which had to be repaid so she began stealing the cash.

Judge James O’Mahony told her: "This was an abuse of trust and was thoroughly dishonest behaviour over a number of years.

"You were supposed to be looking after money for this firm but you stole from your employer instead. This was persistent dishonesty."