A PREGNANT postmistress convicted of stealing nearly ￡75,000 over the course of?two-and-a-half years has been jailed.
Seema Misra, 35, of Station Approach, West Byfleet, was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday (November 11).
Following a week-long trial last month, a jury found Misra guilty of stealing ￡74,609 while she was in charge of the West Byfleet post office.
She had previously?admitted?six counts of false accounting?after she tried?to cover up?a shortfall in the books between June 29, 2005 and January 14, 2008.
Keith Hadrill, appearing for Misra, revealed to the court that she was now eight weeks' pregnant with her second child, and also suffered from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?which would need regular monitoring in prison.
During her trial, Misra claimed computer glitches and work colleagues were responsible for the missing money, also saying?she?had not been sufficiently trained to run the branch.
Mr Hadrill?said: “This is not a defendant who has lived the high life, it’s a frugal life she has eked out with her husband.
“This will have a devastating effect on both her and her 10-year-old son, and she’s fearful of the effect on her unborn child.”
Misra was handed a 15-month sentence for the theft charge, with concurrent six-month terms for each of the other counts.
A further hearing will take place in March?next year to determine how much of the stolen money, if any, Misra is to pay back to Post Office Ltd.
Sentencing, Judge Neil Stewart said: “This is not a case where you stopped offending before being discovered, it was only the January 2008 audit which led to the cessation.
“Your family are going to be devastated by your conviction and the sentence.
“From your point of view it will be a shock and a hardship but I see no alternative.”
For more on this story, see this week's Woking Informer, out on Thursday, November 18.
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