A manager who stole from the garden centre where she worked and who kept quiet about being sacked for a previous theft has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Thirty-one-year old Pamela Rudd was taken on as manager of Garden of Eden Garden Centre and Nursery at Calthwaite, Cumbria, two years ago.

However, in her job interview with the business's owner, Jacqueline Radcliffe, she failed to mention that she had been fired from a previous job with a bank for stealing £10,000 from a customer. And while Rudd's references had been checked, as she had not given the bank as a referee her criminal past did not come to light.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Rudd pleaded guilty to stealing seven bales of haylage (a horse forage) and a tray of eggs from Garden of Eden. The crime was detected on CCTV when her partner was filmed stacking the bales in a truck.

Mrs Radcliffe only found out about Rudd's past after her latest theft was uncovered, although Rudd maintained she had told her employer about stealing whilst at the bank soon after she had been given her job.

However, the judge stated: "I don't believe a word of what you say", and described Rudd as "utterly and deeply dishonest" and as someone who ought to be "thoroughly ashamed" of herself. He handed down a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and Rudd was also ordered to do 200 hours' unpaid community work.