A court has heard how a mum stole £100,000 from her employer to fund a lavish Instagram lifestyle that she could not afford. Laura Howarth, 41, treated herself to hair extensions, VIP concert tickets and a white SUV at the expense of her employer.
The finance assistant wanted to emulate the lifestyles of other glamorous women including her boss's wife by plastering her expensive taste all over social media. In reality, Laura was a mum-of-two who earned just over £900 a month.
Owing thousands in payday loans, she began stealing from the company, only stopping when she went on holiday and maternity leave, Lancs Live reports. Preston Crown Court heard Howarth, of Devona Avenue, Blackpool, even applied for extensions to credit card limits to allow her to steal up to £6,000 a month. When the thefts came to light, in August 2018, she claimed she had shared the money with her colleagues at British Independent Utilities.
