A WORKER for a Worcester travel tours company stole more than £20,000 before quitting her job.

Mother-of-two Sandra Colman, aged 67, of Tolladine Road, Worcester, carried out 13 separate transactions in a six-month period, transferring a total of £23,400 into her personal bank account while she worked for Discover Travel and Tours, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Recorder Graham Cliff dismissed Colman’s claim that she was drawing up to £300 from her accounts every two to three days to pay “everyday shopping bills”.

Prosecutor Michael Conry said Colman had worked for the company, which deals in holiday booking vouchers, for about 15 years. The court was told she was arrested in June last year after she had resigned her position, when discrepancies in the company accounts were investigated.

Richard Bond, defending, said she had not been in financial difficulty but said she had been going through a tough time in her personal life, as her husband had started to become abusive.

“I can’t give you a specific reason why, after all these years of working for her employer, she should suddenly act in this dishonest way,” he told the court.

“The only answer I can give is that she suddenly felt totally alone and isolated in her life and that’s why she acted out if character. She is desperately upset. She is an intelligent woman and is ashamed by what she has done.”

Mr Cliff adjourned the hearing to allow time to gather more evidence on where the money had been spent.

Colman was granted bail. Sentence will be passed later this week.