A former British Airways stewardess and governor of a primary school admits in court stealing children's lunch money, class trip funds and lottery cash 'to go shopping'
By Padraic Flanagan
A former air hostess and wife of a wealthy managing director has admitted stealing children’s dinner money from the primary school where she was a governor.
Kathryn Braidford, who lives with her family in a substantial £650,000 detached home in an exclusive area of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, stole nearly £3,500, Blackpool magistrates’ court was told.
During an eight-month period, the 46-year-old former British Airways stewardess also took money meant for pupils’ school trips and even helped herself to the headteacher’s Lottery syndicate stake.
The mother-of-three's "mortified" husband Steven, the £100,000-a-year boss of a wealth management company, was in court as she admitted seven counts of theft from Breck Primary School in Poulton-le-Fylde.
The court was told that the couple have two children being privately educated while their youngest is a pupil at Breck Primary, where Mrs Braidford was a school governor.
District Judge Jim Clarke, sitting at Blackpool magistrates’ court, heard how she began to work in the school office on a voluntary basis before she was taken on as an administrative assistant three days a week.
One of her duties was to be entrusted with cash and cheques sent to the school for school dinners, school trips, uniform, social event and out of hours club activities, the court was told.
Once a week she was meant to bank the money, said prosecutor Jane Yates. “One day a brown envelope containing £300 for pupils' school photographs went missing.
"That was followed by the disappearance of £170 which was headmistress Cheryl Brindle's money for the Lottery syndicate."
The judge heard that during last year’s summer holiday, CCTV was secretly installed in the school in an attempt to catch the thief. The school was said to have been in turmoil with both staff and pupils under suspicion.
The school's computer had recorded payments being logged in but money and cheques were not being paid into the bank. Video footage showed Braidford removing a bag of money from a desk that was never banked.
When the school called in police, a search was carried out at the governor’s home. She then produced school bank account cheques and paying in slips from a desk.
When Braidford was interviewed, she told an officer she had used some money "to go shopping and pay for food".
She told her police interviewer she had wanted to stop stealing and pay the money back but had failed to do so. She regarded the money as the school’s and reasoned that she was not harming an individual, the court heard.
Her husband was said to be "mortified" when told by police what she had been doing. The court was told that the school lost £3,434 in total.
In her victim’s statement, the head said: "I was saddened when I had to install CCTV. This is a primary school and I should be dealing with education and not having an environment where all the staff and pupils were suspects.
"I had real affection for Mrs Braidford and trusted her. I suspected people but not her. There was real angst in the school over this period and pupils were no longer allowed to go in areas or complete tasks they formerly did."
Defending, Leisa Splaine said Braidford had been humiliated socially by her crimes. She said her client had a career but felt “invisibible” and had low self-esteem.
"This woman has never been in trouble before," said Miss Splaine. "She and her husband are comfortably off. She has now left the school and when confronted by police admitted what she had done.”
Sentencing her to 12 months’ supervision and attendance at a special offenders’ group, the judge said: "You were in a position of trust and suspicion for a time fell on others. What you did had an impact on children, parents and staff at the school."
Braidford was also ordered to pay back £3,434 within 28 days, with £105 in costs.