A TRUSTED catering manager who stole almost £100,000 from a school has been locked up for a year and four months.

Betty Susan Davidson worked for Rossett School, in Harrogate, for almost 20 years and spent eight of them stealing £98,114.

The 57-year-old gambling addict began taking money from the school in 2007 when she was asked to manage a pre-payment machine used by staff and pupils.

Money was put into the machine and transferred into a cashless credit system for pupils, which was used to pay for meals.

York Crown Court heard Davidson was responsible for taking cash out of the machine and accounting for it, but she was helping herself to thousands of pounds before depositing the cash.

Davidson, of Poplar Way, Harrogate, was "an institution" at the school and the money was never checked because of the trust placed in her.

The extent of her dishonesty was only uncovered last year when a finance director looked into the accounts.

It was discovered money was missing and when Davidson was confronted, she admitted to only taking £1,300.

Chloe Fairley, prosecuting, said: "Given how long the defendant was working at the school and the degree of trust placed on her there was no auditing of her.

"The defendant was asked for an account of the missing money and she gave various excuses.

"She accepted it happened on one occasion and she had taken the sum of £1,300.

"There was a disciplinary hearing and she wrote a letter of resignation, but maintained this had been a single error."

York Press:

The court heard Davidson had a serious gambling addiction and would spend the money online, sometimes on multiple sites at the same time.

She began by taking small amounts, but once her confidence grew, she was taking £17,000 from the machine.

Alasdair Campbell, defending Davidson, said her husband had no idea of his wife's addiction and it was hidden from everyone.

She has sought counselling for the illness and "feels terrible" about the theft and letting the school down.

The Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty, QC, said: "No-one questioned the amounts that you emptied from the machine because you were no doubt an institution at the school.

"The reality is that in just over an eight year period you stole just under £100,000.

"This was not a case where you needed the money.

"You were not stealing to feed and clothe your family with the bare necessities of life.

"You were stealing to fund a habit and addiction, a habit and addiction which has ultimately ruined you."

A spokesman for Rossett School added: "We were deeply shocked to find that she had betrayed the trust we put in her, and particularly to the level that was later uncovered.

"It was a deliberate act of theft and we are relieved that this has been recognised through her conviction and the sentence given to her by the court."