A crooked primary school worker who trousered hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund an "extravagant lifestyle" of luxury holidays and cars has been jailed. Debra Poole, 61, relentlessly abused her position for years while in charge of the school's bank accounts.
As well as overseeing the school’s finances, she oversaw the documentation used for any changes to staff pay. Poole was also in charge of managing the invoices and finances of Woody’s, the school’s breakfast and after-school club.
She began working at there as school secretary in February 2000 before being promoted to senior administration officer four years later. But Kingston Crown Court heard how Poole abused her position as signatory of the club’s bank account to the tune of £490,000 from October 2011 until October 2018 by transferring funds, writing out cheques to herself and then cashing the cheques.
Hinchley Wood Primary School in Surrey was left without basic supplies while parents said their children's education had suffered, the court heard. Meanwhile, Poole and her husband, Gary, enjoyed a luxury lifestyle of expensive holidays in locations including New York and Amsterdam.
In February 2009, Poole submitted a 'Variation in Pay Form' to Surrey County Council, in which she increased her own salary scale from level E to F. Two years later she submitted further paperwork increasing her pay scale further from level SP9 to SP10.
She also claimed that between June 2016 and September 2018 she was working 30 hours a week administering the breakfast club and after school clubs. Poole was convicted of one count of fraud by abuse of position and three counts of fraud by false representation folowing a trial.
She was sentenced to six-and-a-half years behind bars at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, March 31. Her husband, Gary Poole, 67, was found not guilty of one charge of acquisition, use and possession under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
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Detective Constable Lloyd Ives, who investigated the case, said: “Debra Poole stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from Hinchley Wood Primary School while she was employed there as business manager. This gross breach of trust and her elaborate deception spanning some nine years funded an extravagant lifestyle and afforded her luxury holidays and cars which she would not otherwise have been able to afford.
“No doubt Debra would have continued had the school not worked out what was going on and reported the matter to police. This resulted in a lengthy and complex investigation which included examining bank accounts and hundreds of documents to prove that she had defrauded the school."
DC Ives added: “I hope that the sentence given to her today shows the seriousness with which such a massive abuse of trust and position is taken. And I hope that it is a deterrent to anyone else thinking of committing similar offences that it is simply not worth the risk – you will get found out.”
