Soham payroll manager sentenced for overpaying herself by more than £11,000

A payroll manager who stole more than £11,000 from a Soham company she was working for has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Stephanie Newman, of Mereside, in Soham, pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, at Cambridge Crown Court.

The 40-year-old had been working for her employer for two years when she was put in charge of payroll in 2016.

In October 2019, bosses at the company discovered she had overpaid herself by £11,470 in three years.

When questioned by police, Newman said she never wanted to work in payroll and the overpayments were a mistake.

She claimed she told management at the time but nothing was done about it so she continued to take the money.

Newman later pleaded guilty to theft.

At her sentencing on Tuesday (September 29), she was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and repay the stolen money.

PC Simon Rampley, who investigated, said: “Regardless of whether the payments were a mistake or deliberate, Newman knew she had received overpayments and should not have taken them.

“She was put in a position of trust and responsibility and clearly abused this.”