TOP 100 ENGLAND SITES
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| Mark Saunders inquest coroner: 'jargon' hampering police 'common sense' Police marksmen who shot barrister confused by size and jargon of the training manual, a coroner suggested telegraph.co.uk |
Solicitors' clerk stole £1.6m and brought firm 'to its knees' Woman jailed for five years after admitting stealing to buy clothes, cars, luxury holidays – even a racehorseA clerk who funded a life of luxury by stealing £1.6m from the provincial solicitors where she worked has been jailed for five years. Louise Martini, 36, bought expensive jewellery from Chanel and Cartier and clothes from Harrods. She took holidays in top hotels around the world and bought luxury cars and even a racehorse with the money she siphoned off over seven years.Martini's activities left Williamson and Soden of Solihull, West Midlands, "on its knees" and unable to give staff pay rises, Gloucester crown court heard. Martini, of Shirley, near Solihull, admitted stealing £1.6m, between 2002 and 2009, and money laundering.The court heard how, shortly after leaving school, Martini began work at the firm as an accounts clerk and trained there over the next 12 years. She was considered competent and trustworthy so was allowed to handle large sums of money, but in April 2002 began stealing.Sentencing her, Judge Jamie Tabor QC told Martini she had "plundered to a quite remarkable degree", adding: "To get away with it for so long required you to lie, forge and defraud. This you did with coolness and a high degree of cunning." The judge said she took the money out of "sheer greed". "Large amounts were spent on utter extravagances: a Range Rover, a racehorse, a Cartier watch and extravagant holidays at some of the most famous hotels in the world are but some of those extravagances."He said the impact of her crimes had been devastating. "Your erstwhile employers have lost financially, but the devastation you left behind extends much further than that. It has taken 3,000 man hours for them to untangle the intricate web you wove. The consequences live on. Employees have not received pay rises and the firm has been left on its knees."Peter Grieves-Smith, prosecuting, said Martini was motivated simply by greed. At the time she was discovered, she was being paid £24,000 a year but enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. Outlining some of her "extravagances", the prosecutor said she spent £13,000 on stays at a hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon and thousands more on trips skiing and holidays to Venice, Lake Como and Las Vegas.She splashed out £6,000 in three months at upmarket clothes shops – one florist's bill came to £3,700. She spent £3,000 on a hi-fi and bought the lease on a pub for her husband, Richard."Frankly, it just goes on and on and on, month after month," Grieves-Smith said. "Throughout the period she was doing this, she was covering her tracks by lying, using false documents and deceiving those she works with."When her employers finally found out, Martini was suspended and then dismissed. She sent the firm an email saying: "Williamson and Soden mean everything to me and I feel my 18½ years of loyal service should at least be taken into account against one foolish act."When she was arrested, she told police she had been given "money on the side" of up to £1,000 a month by her employers for extra work. She also claimed her husband had put her under pressure to steal – a story rejected by the prosecution. "We say it was her own choice to do it throughout," said Grieves-Smith.The court did not hear how Martini explained her wealth, but it is understood she pretended to family and friends she was a high-flying accountant earning much more than she actually was.Outside court, Ian Williamson, senior partner at Williamson and Soden, said: "We were of course horrified at what she did and have worked closely with the police from the beginning. No client has suffered any loss or been affected in any way, and none have complained."Ms Martini told us her husband was a successful businessman. We were unaware of much of her lifestyle outside the office."CrimeSteven Morrisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Get on bus for work says minister Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith tells people in Merthyr Tydfil they have become static and should get on a bus to seek work in Cardiff. bbc.co.uk |
This Sceptered Isle Some stimulus packages are intangible. A royal wedding gives Britain a lift in its Age of Austerity. nytimes.com |
Royal two for one: William and Harry go to Africa on first joint tour In these times of austerity, it is the royal tour that gives value for money: two princes for the price of one. Prince William and Prince Harry’s tour of Africa — a six-day, three-country dash that began yesterday and will take in England’s next World Cup match in Cape Town — is the first time the prin-ces have embarked on a joint tour. timesonline.co.uk |