Post office worker stole almost £5,000 from vulnerable customers

A judge was told yesterday that Karen Luke, 47, was truly sorry for the spate of thefts she committed while working on the disabled persons counter at the New Street Post Office in Huddersfield.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Luke, of Grange Bank Close, Huddersfield, had been employed as a customer services advisor at the large branch.

Prosecutor Ronald Birkett said an investigation was launched in July last year after concerns were raised about a number of duplicate transactions which were traced back to Luke’s unique user ID.

Mr Birkett said Luke was usually working at the disabled persons’ counter in the branch and was therefore dealing with disabled people and the elderly.

He explained how Luke would get customers to re-enter their PIN details when making a withdrawal and this allowed two payments to be logged onto the system.

“Mrs Luke then drew out an identical amount for herself which she then stole,” said Mr Birkett.

Luke, who had no previous convictions, admitted five charges of theft covering a three-month period. The court heard she had stolen a total of about £4,800.

Her barrister Adam Birkby said she was truly sorry for what she had done.

He said Luke’s financial problems meant she was now planning to go into individual bankruptcy and any compensation order would be difficult to repay in a reasonable period of time. Judge John Potter told Luke she was not going to go to prison for the offences, but he said she would have to do 250 hours’ unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order.

The judge said it had been prolonged and systematic dishonesty against victims who had been targeted by Luke because of their vulnerable nature.

Judge Potter said Luke had seen the offending as a way of obtaining temporary respite from her financial concerns.

The court heard that she still had significant financial difficulties and Judge Potter indicated that instead of making a compensation order he had increased the amount of unpaid work for the community from 200 to 250 hours.