Woman steals more than £110k from family bakery

A former bakery manager who stole more than £110,000 from a small family-run Cornish bakery has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Cathryn Horsfield, 55, took money from Looe Bakery, Looe, across an eight-year period, Truro Crown Court heard. Jurors were told the thefts nearly put the bakery out of business.

Horsfield, of Eddystone Walk, St Martin, Looe, was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

Recorder Malcolm Gibney said her actions were a "glaring breach of trust".

Prosecutor Ramsay Quaife said grandmother Horsfield had been a friend of the bakery owner, Tonia Lewis.

However, Ms Lewis had suspicions about the books and watched CCTV and caught Horsfield taking money from the till.

Rupert Taylor, defending, said: "She is ashamed at what she has done. Everyone in the small town where she lives knows she is a thief.

"It has ruined her life but she has no one to blame but herself."

Mr Taylor added Horsfield was "bemused" at her own "bare greed".

Mr Gibney said Horsfield had been struggling financially and had "helped herself out of the till" over many years.

He said: "Everyone knows you are a thief. It became too easy."

Horsfield admitted theft by an employee to the value of £111,296 belonging to Looe bakery between January 2014 and February 2022.

A Proceeds of Crime hearing will be held at a later date and the court heard Horsfield, now working as a cleaner, has paid back £1,700 so far.

The defendant, who has no previous convictions, claimed she had stolen £71,000 but the court accepted it was more than £100,000.

Speaking after the hearing, Tristan Lewis, Ms Lewis' brother, said it had affected everyone involved with the bakery.

"It had a huge impact on the staff that worked there during that time," he said.

"All the staff that worked there then felt like they were under the spotlight."

He added Horsfield had been a close family friend, adding: "We couldn't believe she would do this until we saw the CCTV."

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