³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A council worker has been jailed for siphoning off more than £260,000 meant for care homes over nearly 11 years.

At Liverpool Crown Court Knowsley Council worker Karen Kavanagh, 60, admitted fraud at Liverpool Crown Court and was jailed for four years.

Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings QC said she stole from vulnerable people in the third most-deprived council area in England.

Her defence said a one-off theft to pay her debts had "snowballed".

Tom Watson, prosecuting, told the court Kavanagh, of Malvern Close, Kirkby, used a "sophisticated" and "devious" system to direct payments to her bank account.

She got hold of cheques which would normally be voided and paid herself before changing the details in the system back to the original supplier.

Her thefts were discovered in April 2019 when a nursing home queried a payment.

Investigations showed Kavanagh, who worked for the authority from 1980 until 2015, had made 122 payments to herself since March 2008.

Judge Cummings said the effect of the fraud was to direct money away from vulnerable people in need.

Peter White, defending, said Kavanagh had been in a financially abusive relationship and had been left with debts and no financial support.

Mr White said: "She was shocked when she heard the total figure was in excess of £260,000. She is adamant she has not been living any sort of luxurious lifestyle during this period."

She still had debts of more than £77,000 and was in arrears.

He added: "What she believed would be a one-off unfortunately snowballed to a total of 122 transactions."