DO stole cash from practice

The Wigan Evening Post (March 13) stated that Rozia Khan had worked at the multiple's Marketgate branch since 1999 and had become good friends with owner/director Graeme Gardner, but was 'pocketing cash payments from customers for frames or lenses'. Police initially cautioned her when she admitted only two offences of stealing from her employer the newspaper reported, because she failed to reveal the scale of her dishonesty.
But a later review by accountants of the transactions handled by Khan over a three-year period revealed over 37 separate theft offences. Wigan Magistrates Court was told she admitted to four specimen charges of theft between June 1999 and November 2003 and asked for another 33 to be taken into consideration. She was given a 12-month community punishment order plus 100 hours community work.
Prosecutor Ann-Marie Siney said that when police originally cautioned her they didn't realise they had only discovered 'the tip of the iceberg', and called her actions a major breach of trust by an employee. Andrea Woods, defending, said Khan had an otherwise impeccable record and had used the cash to support her elderly mother and her unemployed siblings. Khan, who is based in Bolton, was also ordered to make a £20 contribution to prosecution costs.