Newcastle Crown Court heard that Danielle Longstaffe pilfered hundreds of thousands of pounds from her employer after getting into difficulty while being pursued by loan sharks
A fraudster who stole £370,000 from her employer in a bid to pay back loan sharks has got off scot free thanks to her unborn child.
Danielle Longstaffe, 32, was found to have defrauded the six-figure sum from Kaefer Ltd, in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, in several instalments while working as a transport administrator for the firm. Longstaffe, of Church View, Gateshead, who had worked at the company for 12 years, came under suspicion after bosses discovered between £80,000 and £90,000 went missing between April and May of 2022.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the expectant mum had transferred money from her employer’s accounts into her own, and those of friends and family, while using false details in an attempt to cover her tracks. Prosecutors said she had even forged the signature of a transport manager to transfer the funds. Despite confessing her crimes, a judge let her off with a suspended sentence.
Teesside Live reported that the court heard that Longstaffe confessed and helper her employer identify the amount of money she had stolen from the firm when he was confronted, finding £218,000 worth of unauthorised banking transactions. Further fraudulent activity, including unauthorised vehicle hire via a supplier the company used that resulted in 33 vehicles going missing, added another £141,000.
Unauthorised use of a company credit card costing £10,000 brought the total value of the fraud to a massive £370,194, with the firm saying outstanding Tyne Tunnel and parking charges were worth up to £19,000. Longstaffe pleaded guilty to carrying out fraud by abuse of position between September 1, 2021, and May 13, 2022.
Recorder Harry Vann, presiding, told the mum it was “clear from banking records” and her interview that she “took advantage” of her position to steal “enormous sums every single month”. He said: “It’s clear from banking records and what you said interview you took advantage of your position in a company where you had worked for nine years and decided, suddenly, after a period of successful employment, to start stealing enormous sums, they were enormous sums every single month.”
The judge added that her actions impacted 300 colleagues, but was sentenced to two year suspended for an additional two with a mental health requirement after hearing her history of mental difficulties and duties caring for her elderly grandmother. He handed down the sentence adding he had to regard the potential prospect that Longstaffe could give birth in prison.
He added: “I have to take into account the impact on any pregnant woman. I have to have regard to the interests of the unborn child you carry. Ordinarily speaking I would say such a crime demanded immediate custody. However the welfare of your unborn child takes precedence and must.”
Defending “remorseful” Longstaffe, Clare Anderson said her client “acknowledges this is serious criminal offending”, adding she got into financial difficulty “because of loan sharks”. She added: “It was a simple forged signature, which is not to underplay the magnitude of what happened.
“She’s wholly and utterly remorseful and she doesn’t wish to use her pregnancy as an excuse. She has not got pregnant to avoid any sentence that might be imposed.”
