A GREEDY bookkeeper stole thousands of pounds from her employer to fund luxury holidays, handbags, and jaunts to London.

Lynn Boakes took the money over a two and a half year period from Southfield Structural Services in West Sussex.

She set up a fake company to pay invoices worth more than £100,000 to herself from the architecture firm.

Then she also boosted her own salary by more than £13,000.

But when the company bosses grew suspicious about her long weekends off, she tried to deflect blame.

At Hove Crown Court, Judge Paul Tain heard how Boakes, 47, had abused a position of trust, and jailed her for three years.

Timothy Forster, prosecuting, said the offences took place between October 2014 to May 2017.

He said: “It is unclear, but for whatever reason she started to take money from the business. She worked as a bookkeeper in a position of trust.

“Suspicions were aroused when she began to take time off, claiming she was unwell. There was a pattern of her disappearing on Friday afternoons and not coming back to work on Mondays.

“There were posts on Facebook, showing her drinking with friends in London or taking foreign holidays. She turned up to work with expensive handbags.

“This was not taking things to make ends meet. It seems one of the things she spent money on was her driveway, as well as the holidays and pleasure trips.”

Boakes, of Sea Lane, Pagham, also provided fake references for her husband David Boakes, 54, to obtain a job at Sainsbury’s.

He appeared in the dock with her, where he was given a conditional discharge for the fake job reference.

Brian Kennedy, defending, said the offence was minor, and the judge agreed that had it not been for his wife, then Boakes would not have gone to court.

Paul Andrews, defending Lynn, said she has no previous convictions and had been suffering with depression.

He said she has shown genuine remorse and because of her health issues, she should be spared a prison spell. He said she was “mortified” by what she had done.

But Judge Tain disagreed. He said: “She must have been aware that her employer didn’t have the remotest idea of how to run the bookkeeping side of the business.

“This was a sophisticated operation where she used blind alleys and cover ups. This was an intense period of dishonesty.”

Boakes now faces proceedings to reclaim the £117,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.