• Mother-of-four Michela Golden escapes jail after admitting theft
  • Kids@Play - which ran before and after school clubs - was forced to shut after the thefts
  • Golden, 31, was given a company bank card after she offered to take control of the company's finances
  • An audit revealed she had stolen 6,000 over a year and she was arrested

By Rob Cooper

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Thief: Mother-of-four Michela Golden, 31, admitted taking 6,000 from the childcare company and escaped jail

Thief: Mother-of-four Michela Golden, 31, admitted taking 6,000 from the childcare company and escaped jail

A director of a children's breakfast club stole 6,000 and spent the money on wine and paying for meals out for herself, a court heard.

Mother-of-four Michela Golden, 31, took the funds from a not-for-profit childcare company to buy alcohol, clothes, fuel and pay for food.

The cash, which was stolen over the course of a year, had been given by parents to pay for children's clubs in Rossendale, Lancashire.

When questioned, Golden denied she had taken the money and instead said the founder of Kids@Play Child Care must be responsible, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The company, which ran before and after school sessions, was forced to close after the thefts which happened and eight members of staff lost their jobs.

Golden, who admitted two counts of theft, escaped jail and was given a 10 month suspended sentence when she appeared before the court.

Kids@Play was set-up in 2008 to provide childcare outside school hours and had initially received funding grants from bodies such as Sure Start.

Nicholas Courtney, prosecuting, said the thefts started in July 2009 and went on for a year.

Golden took control of the company's finances at her own suggestion after they opened a second site in Newchurch, near Rossendale in September 2009.

She was issued with a company bank card so she could make purchases on their behalf.

But Lindsey Foster, the company's founder, noticed a series of unusual transactions when she looked at the bank statements in April 2010.

She also noticed that some of the money parents had given never turned up in their account.

A full audit was carried out before Golden was arrested and suspended.

When police searched her home in June last year they found paperwork which said the mother had several thousands of pounds in debts and her mortgage and council tax was in arrears.

Mr Courtney said that Golden, from Bacup, Lancashire, blamed the company's founder for the missing money.

Child care: Kids@Play ran before and after school classes for children in Rossendale, Lancashire

Child care: Kids@Play ran before and after school classes for children in Rossendale, Lancashire

He said: 'She suggested Lindsey Foster may be responsible for missing funds, saying she seemed to be living an extravagant lifestyle at the time.

'Lindsey Foster was very upset by that suggestion, which it seems was made not just to the police in interview, but to various other people.'

In mitigation Bob Elias, defending, said the defendant's marriage had failed.

He said: 'She has issues both as to her younger years and marriage and possibly alcohol, which would benefit from engaging with a trained individual.'

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: 'This was, of course, mean offending. I accept it was to fund household expenditure, at least to a significant extent and it’s right to say there was evidence, when police came to investigate you, of a significant quantity of debt.

'I also accept you had difficulties with an abusive relationship. It’s particularly troubling a great deal of the money appears to have been spent on alcohol.'

The judge gave her a suspended sentence and ordered her to carry out 150 hours unpaid work. She was also given a 12 month supervision order.