Original Summary

Facebook / Kelly Kershaw stole from vulnerable customers to fund several expensive holidays A building society cashier who stole thousands of pounds from customers to pay for "lavish" holidays has been ordered to repay more than £12,000. Kelly Kershaw, 54, took at least £8,605 from vulnerable and elderly customers at Nationwide in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, even forging the signature of a man with learning disabilities. Kershaw admitted five counts of fraud after colleagues spotted Facebook posts of her on safari in Africa, and on trips to Paris, Tuscany and Dubai. She was jailed for 16 years in May but returned to Caernarfon Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, where the court heard she benefited £13,333.26 from her crimes - and had £12,630 in assets. Judge Nicola Jones ordered Kershaw to repay the sum within three months or face a further five months in prison. The mother-of-two posted pictures of skiing trips, safaris and romantic European getaways on her Facebook page and boasted she was "living and loving life one adventure at a time." Kershaw's victims included an 85-year-old man who had lost some "cognitive abilities" after suffering a stroke - and she stole £6,300 from him. On one occasion, he came to the branch asking to withdraw £200, but Kershaw logged the withdrawal as £500 and pocketed £300 herself. Another victim was a 49-year-old man with learning difficulties who lost £1,400 to Kershaw - he had his bank card kept in the branch as he was a previous victim of fraud. Facebook / Kelly Kershaw's offending lasted for more than a year and she was caught after posting lavish holiday photos on Facebook During the May hearing, prosecutor Elen Owen said Kershaw had been transferred to work at the branch in June 2020, which had a "high number of vulnerable customers." "After a while co-workers noticed the defendant appeared to have a lavish lifestyle," she said. "She was regularly gong on expensive foreign holidays and there were other indications of extravagant spending." Owen said "due to the suspicions raised" an internal probe was launched by Nationwide and identified five victims. She said Kershaw, who also drove a personalised BMW convertible, would process cash withdrawals from accounts but pocket either some or all of the money from herself. North Wales Police / Kershaw admitted five counts of fraud while working for Nationwide Building Society Owen said Kershaw was interviewed by a financial investigator in November 2024 and admitted what she had done and was arrested by police. "The total amount which can be shown to be taken fraudulently is £8,605, the building society did however reimburse customers to the total of £12,630," said Owen. Kershaw admitted five counts of fraud. Defence barrister Amy Edwards said Kershaw was suffering from a "compulsive spending addiction" at the time. "She gave a full and frank admission to the offence and showed remorse to each of her victims. That is genuine remorse and regret for what she did," said Edwards. Judge Timothy Petts said Kershaw needed to be jailed as a "deterrent" to other cashiers so as to "prevent others from doing the same". He told her: "While working as a building society cashier in Caernarfon you systematically stole £8,605 from five elderly or vulnerable customers over a period of 11 months. "Your pattern of offending was repeated. You forged peoples signatures or you would take their card to withdraw a large sum from the account and only hand over part of it. "You were asked why you targeted those people in particular, you said they were 'easy targets who wouldn't notice the money going from their accounts. "The reality is you only stopped stealing money because suspicions were raised about your lifestyle, investigations took place and your fraud was discovered."

  • 情报分类：工作与职业机会
  • 分类依据：内容涉及招聘、求职或职业发展
  • 信息来源：英语新闻 / BBC News Top Stories
  • 发布时间：2026/10/9 23:14:30