Bank manager who took nearly £1m walks free

A former junior bank manager walked free from court after being cleared of stealing nearly £1m from a high street bank.

Ania Wadsworth admitted taking the money but sobbed as she told the

jury she had been forced to do it by her crack addict boyfriend.

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The 28-year-old, of Archway, north London, was found not guilty of stealing 921,716.95 from Lloyds TSB between 2002 and 2007.

Keith "Junior" Preddie, 30, of Romford, Essex, was found guilty of laundering 145,370.

Preddie, who had a 500-a-day drug habit at times, said he also spent money on BMW cars, holidays and a failed music business.

The Old Bailey was told Wadsworth would walk out of the branch at Golders Green, north London, with bundles of 25,000, stolen as she was loading cash machines. But none of the missing money was traced to her and she lived modestly.

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Her bank accounts were frequently in the red and she had taken out 14,000 in loans from the bank.

An expert on domestic abuse said Wadsworth showed signs of battered woman syndrome and "learned helplessness".

She had been with Preddie, described as being from the wrong side of the tracks, since she was 16. But he left her in 2004 when he fell in love with another woman.

Wadsworth told the court that at the end of the relationship she was forced to steal larger amounts to "pay him off".

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She said she lived in fear of violence and believed he would kill her or her family if she did not bring cash home.

Christopher Sallon QC, defending, said Preddie had used her "like a cash cow".

"If I came home without it, I would get hurt. I would die," Wadsworth said. "He would beat me up and if I didn't bring it, that would be an end of it.

"He told people I worked in the bank. He would say 'My baby is a supervisor in a bank'."

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Wadsworth said she "felt a sense of relief" when she was arrested coming off a plane from Trinidad at Gatwick Airport in March 2007.

She was found out during a nationwide audit carried out while she was on holiday.

Her new husband Damon Hoford, whom she had wed in November 2004, and her parents had no idea about her double life.

Mortgage adviser Mr Hoford told police: "After I found out about the thefts by Ania, I was devastated but loved her and wanted to stand by her."

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But she began to act out of character, coming home late and tipsy,

after her arrest and they separated and later divorced.

Mr Hoford told the court they had always "gone 50-50" with the bills and holidays and she had had few material possessions when she moved into his flat.

Mr Hoford, who worked at the same branch, said they started going out together when her relationship with Preddie ended.

Det Sgt Suzanne Ferris, of City of London Police, said outside court: "We found no evidence in her finances to show she had any gain."

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Preddie and Wadsworth both collapsed in floods of tears in the dock as the verdicts were announced from the five woman and six man jury.

Wadsworth was discharged while Preddie was remanded in custody until March 5, for pre-sentence reports.

He had made little attempt to hide the money he got from Wadsworth, putting 145,370 of it into his bank accounts.

This he used to buy a couple of BMW cars – one of which was firebombed. He also bought a motorcycle, leather clothes and gold jewellery, splashed out on a new bathroom and kitchen, as well as lavish holidays.

But in contrast, Wadsworth said she wore second-hand clothes and drove an old Renault Clio her father bought for her.

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