How could she STEAL FROM ME?

Stella McCarthy, 55, will always regret being so trusting

- FRANCES LEATE, ANN CUSACK

Feeling tears forming in my eyes, I watched as my employee, Alacia Bowker, then 19, walked into the school hall with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. ‘I thought you could do with some cheering up,’ she smiled, handing them to me. ‘And I want to take you for lunch later, too.’ I was so touched by her kind gesture, I pulled her in for a hug. ‘You’re so sweet,’ I beamed.

It was April 2019 and it had been a difficult week at the kids’ club I owned, with staff being off sick and the stress of caring for more than 90 children. But Alacia had a way of keeping mine and my eight other staff members’ spirits up with her personality and thoughtful gifts.

Taking Alacia on as an apprentice back in 2014 when she was just 15 had been a bit of a risk. She didn’t have any experience with children, but something about her confident and caring manner told me she’d be a natural, and I was right. The children loved her, and employing her had ended up being the best decision I’d ever made.

I had three daughters, Holly, 26, Megan, 25 and Jasmine, 24, but over the years I came to think of Alacia as one of my own. She spent a lot of time at my home, chatting away to my husband Mick, 61, and gossiping with my daughters. She wasn’t just someone who worked with me, she was family.

I’d even recently promoted her. In March 2019, when I’d wanted to start taking a step back from my business and delegate some of the responsibility, making Alacia Deputy Manager had just seemed like the most natural thing to do.

In capable hands