A PRACTICE manager has admitted carrying out fraud involving more than £596,000 at the GP surgery where she worked.

Members of Elvington Medical Practice were in court to hear Carolyn Jane Lightwing enter her guilty plea.

She no longer works for the practice, which has three surgeries in Elvington, Wheldrake and Dunnington.

When she appeared before York Magistrates' Court, the 54-year-old from St Marys, York, spoke only to confirm her name, age and address and to say “guilty”.

She admitted a charge of fraud by abuse of position involving £596,940.79 over three years from July 1, 2014 to August 7, 2017.

The charge states that during that time, while working as the practice’s practice manager, she moved funds from its account into her own for her own or another’s benefit.

Magistrates heard that national sentencing guidelines suggest a sentence of between five and eight years imprisonment for frauds of £600,000.

They declared the case was too serious for them to deal with and sent her to York Crown Court for sentence.

Their maximum sentence for a single offence is six months.

Lightwing will appear before a circuit judge for sentence on July 10 and was released on bail until then.

Her solicitor Kevin Blount said: “There is no black hole in the practice’s accounts.”

He said over the period of the fraud, Lightwing had moved funds from the practice’s to her own bank account and later repaid them.

At its height, the most that had been moved was £200,000 the court heard.

“The monies have all been repaid now,” he said.

The prosecution has yet to say whether it accepts Lightwing’s basis of plea.

At Mr Blount’s request, magistrates ordered the probation service to prepare a pre-sentence report on Lightwing before the crown court hearing.

She has no previous convictions.