A FORMER Craven Arms woman, involved in a "determined" and "dishonest" fraud to divert around £75,000 into her own bank account, has been jailed.

Book-keeper Leanne Miller put her own sort code and account number on invoices while working for companies in Shropshire and South Wales.

Having been sacked by her Telford employers Miller then repeated the fraud when she moved to Swansea and got a new job.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court last week 31-year-old Miller was jailed for two years and four months.

Judge Robin Onions said the offences committed by Miller were, of their type, of the greatest seriousness.

"You were trusted by both employers. You decided that you were going to steal money from them," he said.

He said Miller had started stealing from her second employer without a "pause in breath" after being sacked.

Judge Onions said it was "determined dishonesty" and Miller had abused her position and put the owners under stress and said the defendant must have known what she was doing.

"I cannot order any compensation - I wish I could," he said.

The judge said that Miller must pay back a nominal £10, under a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order, having been told she had no realisable assets.

Miller, formerly of Bache Farm, Craven Arms, Shropshire, and now of East Burrows Road, Swansea, had admitted two charges of fraud.

Mr Michael Grey, prosecuting, said that Miller had repaid almost £20,000 - but more than £50,000 was left outstanding to the two firms who were effectively having to "pick up the tab" by repaying clients.

The court heard that Miller started work for Telford-based Jigsaw Business Management Services in March, 2014, and pocketed around £52,500 in less than a year, which left the company on the brink of collapse.

Mr Grey said there were 11 transactions where Miller changed the sort code and account number on invoices for Birmingham-based firm Live Recruitment, for whom Jigsaw acted, so cash was diverted to her account.

He said she was sacked in January this year due to concerns about her work and the amount of time she was having off.

Mr Grey said that a month later the frauds came to light by which time Miller had moved to South Wales and had another job with Bookcheck Ltd in Alexandra Road, Swansea.

He said she did exactly the same, using the same methods, to pay over £25,000 into her own bank account in less than three months.

Mr Brendan Reedy, for Miller, said his client had admitted what she had done straight away and attempted to pay back some of the money.

"Sadly, during this period of time, she fell under the influence of her partner who used drugs and she was effectively supporting that lifestyle, while at the same time running up considerable debts herself," he said.