A Dover social worker has admitted nine fraud charges after using money from an emergency fund for vulnerable children to pay her rent.
Pauline Stannard from Primrose Road, Dover, took nearly £5,000 from the account, designed to help children in need, including disabled youngsters.
The 63-year-old, who was working at social services Whitstable office when she fled to France as police started investigating theft claims from colleagues.
An audit in 2009 revealed that nine cheques had been written to Stannard’s Dover landlord. She was only arrested last year when she flew back to the UK for treatment for a skin condition.
The judge at Canterbury Crown Court gave the Kent woman a nine-month suspended jail sentence and ordered her to do 200 hours un-paid work.
