A trusted assistant manager who stole almost £50,000 while working at a Kendal travel agency has received a suspended prison sentence.
Thirty-year-old Layla Elizabeth Hayhurst committed the offence over the course of more than three years – between late 2016 and early 2020 – having worked for the company all her adult life.
Hayhurst’s criminal conduct came to light when a cash bag was mistakenly reported missing.
As CCTV was examined, she was seen to steal £35 from a till.
More footage was scrutinised by security staff and showed Hayhurst – who‘d also been the manager of another TUI store – taking more money.
It emerged that in total, on 12,461 separate occasions, she’d stolen £49,220.95, capitalising on a foreign currency buy-back guarantee through which £3.95 cash refunds were issued but not audited.
Hayhurst swiftly admitted her wrongdoing when interviewed by police and, during a first court appearance, pleaded guilty to theft by employee.
She was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court this morning, when Judge Nicholas Barker heard she had been a victim of serious domestic abuse by a “deeply and dangerously controlling” former partner who had received a jail term as a result.
He had been unaware of her theft.
Told that Hayhurst, of Siding Close, Lancaster, was left suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and still impacted by the abuse, Judge Barker suspended a 12-month prison sentence for two years.
Hayhurst – a woman without any other criminal convictions – must complete 200 hours’ unpaid work and an electronically monitored three-month night-time curfew.
“It seems to me that undermined your own judgement and therefore affected your conduct,” the judge said having read of her PTSD.
“But I do observe that your offending carried on after the relationship ceased and after your former partner received a custodial sentence.”
