A 54-YEAR-OLD woman from Thornbury has been sentenced to a year in prison for defrauding her employer.

Carol Wood, of Primrose Drive, was handed the 12-month sentence and a compensation order yesterday at Bristol Crown Court, having pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Bristol Magistrates Court earlier this month.

The charges related to her previous employment at South West Relocations, a property management and lettings agency based in Almondsbury.

Shelley Fisher, one of the company’s partners, said: “We are pleased with the verdict today, but very sad this all had to happen.

“Carol was an employee with us for several years and had a number of problems while she was with us, but we tried really hard to help her out. So to learn she had been defrauding us was very disappointing.”