An accountant from Bredbury has been jailed after defrauding her own company out of nearly £130,000. 

Nicola Clarke had been abusing her position as head of accounts at Business Computer Projects Ltd, Heaviley, since 2008. 

The 56-year-old was said to have stolen from the business 'in discreet ways' through claiming unauthorised overtime payments; stealing cash; and abusing a company credit card. 

Minshull Street Crown Court was told she had forged directors' signatures on at least two occasions to hide the fact she was using the credit card without authorisation. 

By the time the fraud was discovered in June 2019, the company had lost £128,352 – including over £104,000 of credit card spending, and over £15,000 of overtime payments. 

The court also heard Business Computer Projects Ltd lost a further £80,000 in pursuing the investigation. 

At the time, Clarke claimed the fraud had lasted only six months, and promised to reimburse the company. 

She later accepted the fraud had actually lasted eleven years, and pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by abuse of position. 

Clarke has since been jailed for 21 months. 

Rebecca Penfold, mitigating, said Clarke had put her family home up for sale with the intention of paying the company back. 

Ms Penfold also said she had been suffering from poor health at the time, after a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and a stroke in 2024. 

"The reason why she committed the offence was for a better life for her daughter - it was a gross error on her part," she said. "There was point of burying her head in the sand and now she is facing what she is facing. She says how very sorry she is for what happened." 

Jailing Clarke, Judge Kevin Slack described her behaviour as "sustained fraud on a large scale". 

"I am told you are remorseful, but you have spent many months if not years of burying your head in the sand," he said.  

~

Free from clickbait, Stockport Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our town.

To get our top stories in your inbox each week, subscribe to our free weekly newsletter HERE.

Please consider following Stockport Nub News on Facebook or X