A compulsive spender who flaunted "designer" handbags and exotic holidays has been jailed for swindling her bosses out of almost £80,000 in just four months.

Carly Miller siphoned off company money destined to pay suppliers while employed as an accounts manager at specialist paint manufacturers Creative Resins Ltd in Sittingbourne.

The 39-year-old was said to have used much of the cash to pay off debts she had amassed from online spending sprees in lockdown.

Maidstone Crown Court heard she even had the nerve in what was described as a "last hurrah" to pilfer £5,000 on the day she walked out of the office for good.

It was following that departure in May 2022 that her deception was uncovered, and at her home in Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey police found as many as 20 handbags, shoes and accessories purportedly from the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana.

However, it was claimed at her sentencing hearing on Friday (April 26) that the goods were in fact fakes she had bought to "cheer herself up" during the Covid pandemic.

Miller, described by her own barrister as a "compulsive spender and compulsive debtor", admitted fraud relating to 19 individual payments totalling £79,439 made between January 17 and May 10, 2022.

Miller's offending began just six months after she had started in her role which gave her "full access" to company finances, said prosecutor Neil Moore.

Her fraud, which she later claimed amounted to around £50,000, had not been discovered by the time she decided to resign in May 2022.

But a few days later as she served out her four-week notice period a row erupted about how she was training her replacement.

Miller, of Main Road, was described as being "reluctant" to show her how the system worked.

Having already helped herself to more money earlier that day, she then took her lunch break and did not return.

"She no doubt feared her fraud was going to be discovered and so it was that her replacement was inundated with inquiries from suppliers asking why they had not been paid," added Mr Moore.

Miller was then contacted by Creative Resins and, having agreed to meet, admitted taking the money.

When arrested, she told police she did not believe the figure to be as high as it was.

"She explained she was in a lot of debt, she was desperate and had made terrible decisions," said the prosecutor.

"She said she became depressed in the Covid lockdown so ordered stuff online to cheer herself up but got into debt.

"The money taken was used to pay off that debt but she also continued to spend and paid for a £2,000 holiday.

"She said she was sorry and 'felt sick' from the minute she did it. She said she left because 'I knew I was doing wrong'."

In her short time as an employee, Miller was said to have been "nurtured" by her bosses.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, managing director Patrick Sumner explained how she had been fully supported, even when she took a large number of days off sick for various allergies.

She was also given a pay rise when she said she was struggling to pay bills.

But he said Miller's betrayal of trust dramatically affected the business's ability to increase wages, pay traditional bonuses, and invest in new technology.

The family-run firm, set up in 1990, lost three valued members of staff as a result, had to sell a large share in a Spanish production business, thereby losing the export links it had to South America, and was considering cutbacks and redundancies.

"Meanwhile, those hard-working people (staff) looked at what their former colleague did, spending stolen money they had worked hard for just so she could enjoy holidays in Mexico and buy designer handbags and shoes which she gleefully showed off," added Mr Sumner.

James Ross, defending, told the court Miller was not a "cool, rational crook seeking a luxury lifestyle".

"She was beset with mental health difficulties and had become a compulsive spender and a compulsive debtor, living on a daily basis with this compulsion and spiralling debt," he added.

But on deciding that prison was unavoidable, Judge Julian Smith said he could not ignore the "close to catastrophic" impact her offending had had on the business, its directors and staff.

Jailing Miller for two-and-a-half years, he told her: "The company has fought its way back from what appears to have been very close to failure.

"They have worked hard and have had to adjust their business methods, expectations and horizons as a result of this.

"You were taken into the family business, paid and nurtured. But over the four-month period the money has gone and the impact significant.

"Things have improved but the word 'precarious' has been used to explain their predicament.

"There was substantial trust invested in you and that was betrayed."

The court heard Miller, who was also handed a 10-year restraining order banning her from attending Creative Resins or contacting the directors, has since repaid about £15,000 of the money.