A woman has admitted carrying out a fraud totalling almost £8,000 while working for a florist.
Kellie Harper, 32, pleaded guilty to seven Fraud Act charges when she appeared at the city’s magistrates’ court this morning remotely over a video link.
One was an offence of fraud by abusing her position as a sales assistant for Flowers Same Day to make a gain of almost £190 for herself.
The six other crimes admitted by Harper, of Knells Farm, Houghton, near Carlisle, were classed as fraud by false representation.
Court papers show these were committed by using other people’s bank details without permission to purchase items for herself. These are said to have had a total value of just over £7,600.
Harper’s offending occurred between November 2019 and late October 2020.
Prosecutor Peter Kelly told magistrates Harper had initially denied the offences when interviewed before admitting them during her first court appearance.
Magistrates concluded their sentencing powers were “unlikely to be sufficient” in the case, and instead sent it to Carlisle Crown Court.
Harper is due to appear there in front of a judge on April 9.
In the meantime, magistrates asked for the preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report, and granted Harper unconditional bail until the next court hearing.
*A spokesman for the company involved confirmed today that Harper was no longer employed there.
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