A former account manager of a press agency in east London has been ordered to pay back more than £120,000 to her former employers.
Katie Crilly, 29, of Northaw Road East in Cuffley, Herts, worked at Barcroft Media Ltd between May 2009 and August 2010.
She was sentenced to three and a half years in prison last month (September) after being found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of stealing £92,032.75.
Crilly was arrested in June 2012 after an internal company audit carried out in April 2012 revealed a series of payments made directly to her personal bank accounts.
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In a new hearing at the High Court on 28 October, Barcroft’s legal representative Owen Williams made an application for summary judgment.
Williams argued at the hearing – uncontested by Crilly – that a full civil trial was unnecessary owing to her conviction for the offence.
The procedural officer presiding over the case, Master Leslie, agreed, granting the application for summary judgement.
“In my submission, in light of her conviction, there is no realistic defence open to Miss Crilly,” Leslie said.
“She helped herself to over £90,000 of money and was convicted of theft in September of this year.
“The claim that these payments were sanctioned was found to be without foundation.
“It seems quite straightforward that there is no real prospect of Miss Crilly’s defence that these payments were overtime succeeding, having already been rejected by a jury.”
Crilly was ordered to pay back a total of £122,568.36, along with legal costs of £15,000.
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