Gran stole £163k from boss to fund caravan holidays and 'pop-up pub'

A GRAN who worked in the same job for almost 25 years has been unmasked as a thief who swiped £163,000 from her boss.

- JON HARRIS SEAMUS McDONNELL

Patricia Bennett used the money to fund caravan holidays, trips to Spain and boasted on social media of a DIY pop-up pub built in the back of her newly refurbished garden.

At Bolton Crown Court, the 69-year-old, from Crossdale Road, Hindley Green, near Wigan, admitted fraud relating to a total of £163,111.35 and was jailed for 18 months.

Her theft was only discovered after she had retired from her role as an accounts manager and her successor started to investigate suspicious transactions going back 13 years.

her While former employers searched for the whereabouts of the missing money, Bennett, whose son-in-law is a police officer and son works in a prison, posted a series of pictures on social media, enjoying UK staycations, holidays in the Costa Blanca in Spain and Skiathos in Greece, as well as images of a bar she and her unsuspecting husband Lawrence erected at the rear of her home and called 'Lorenzos.