A CWMBRAN woman has avoided jail after admitting stealing £18,000 from Morrisons in Cwmbran.

Claire Bevan, 48, of Coleridge Green in St Dials, stole the cash while working in the petrol station at the retailer, off Edlogan Way, between February 2020 and January this year.

Bevan had worked for Morrisons since 2015, and in 2018 she moved to the petrol station.

In December 2020, an investigation was launched after bosses noticed “large losses” from the petrol station.

An investigator caught Bevan stealing on CCTV in January of this year.

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“He approached the defendant and asked her where the money was that he had seen her steal that morning,” said prosecutor Nik Strobl.

“She said it was in her handbag.”

They went to the manager, where Bevan admitted to the thefts.

Mr Strobl told Newport Crown Court the methods Bevan used to pocket the cash.

For customers paying with cash, she would void payments on items which opened the till, then would give customers their exact change and pocket the cash.

If someone paid with the exact change, she would void the payment, which opened the till up automatically, but she then kept hold of the money.

Going back through the void receipts from her shifts, bosses estimated she stole around £20,000.

“She thought she had stolen roughly £10,000,” said Mr Strobl. “She stole around £100 per shift.

“She spent the money on her family who she always wished to please.

“She was often left in the store by herself and in charge of the money. She was left in a position of trust by her employer.”

On April 19, she pleaded guilty to stealing a lesser amount than the £20,000 she was charged with, and in May, she pleaded guilty on the basis of £12,000.

She later agreed upon a figure of £18,000.

Karl Williams, representing Bevan, said: “Her motivation for offending was not for personal financial gain.

“She was trying to compensate her children for the lack of contact they had in her life.”

“Whether you took that money to benefit your children or to benefit yourself is immaterial,” said Recorder Greg Bull QC.

However, he said he would suspend the sentence as “this offending took place some time ago.”

Bevan was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years.

She must complete 60 hours of unpaid work in the community, and up to 20 hours of rehabilitation activity requirement.

No order for costs or a surcharge was made at this time, as a Proceeds of Crime hearing will be held later this year.