A FAMILY-RUN business in Wokingham will not get a penny back after being defrauded out of more than £300,000 by an 81-year-old former employee.

'Cold-hearted' Joy Liddiard, from Old Bath Road in Charvil, was jailed for two years and eight months after she pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to defraud.

This comes after the former Simpson Springs and Pressings accountant funnelled thousands of pounds to a personal bank account over the course of eight years.

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The family-run business, which started from a garage in 1973, was said to have lost £316,740 in total due to the accountant’s “callous and cold-hearted” scams.

Derek Simpson, managing director of the company, told the News: “There is obvious anger - it is a betrayal of trust.

“It is a total disregard for your feelings and wellbeing.

“My parents considered her as a friend, so they feel incredibly let-down.”

Liddiard, who pleaded guilty in February 2019, regularly visited Derek’s parents for tea and even attended the managing director’s wedding.

She was sentenced at Reading Crown Court yesterday alongside Beverly Taylor, 51 from Lucas Place, Bracknell, who took home £47,000 of the cash.

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The court heard from prosecutor Fiona Ryan who told Judge Sarah Campbell that Liddiard had lied about her age to get the job in August 2007, claiming she was five years younger than she actually was.

The 81-year-old had two previous convictions for theft and false accounting from the 1980s and had been behind bars before.

Ms Ryan told the court Liddiard funnelled the money into a personal bank account designed to look like that of an accounting firm.

Taylor, who was found guilty of the same charges as Liddiard by a jury, joined the company as office administrator in 2011 and became aware of the scam after becoming “friendly” with the accountant.

The office administrator became part of the conspiracy after Liddiard started paying Taylor her salary twice every month.

Chartered accountants started looking into the company’s funds in 2016 and discovered the scam after a year of investigation, which became “complex” as Liddiard and Taylor had destroyed important paperwork.

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Both were sacked once the scandal was discovered and charges were brought against them.

In total, Liddiard gained £219,037, Taylor took home £47,000 and another £802 to repair her car, VAT underpayments cost the company £12,000 and the accountant’s investigation set Simpson back another £30,000.

The court heard how the company could have been forced to close because of the financial losses and meant the firm could not invest in new machinery or give other staff pay raises.

Ms Ryan said the defendants spent every penny of what they stole and none of the money lost by Simpson will be recovered.

Defending Liddiard, Maya Chopra said: “When she thinks about what she has done she feels shame. She wishes she could turn the clock back but obviously she can’t.”

Shaun Esprit, defending Taylor, said the administrator’s involvement will cause her “a great deal of sorrow and regret for the rest of her life.”

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In sentencing the pair, Judge Campbell said: “This was a callous and cold-hearted fraud committed out of greed.”

Liddiard was sentenced to two years and eight months behind bars for her role in the scam, and Taylor handed two years and three months in jail for her part.

Speaking to the media after the sentencing, Derek Simpson said: “It is a weight off my shoulders because you can move on and there’s some closure.

“You’ll never totally recover from it because it will define how I look at my success in business ultimately, because it is a betrayal and you do feel you should have done something about it yourself, but these people were clever.

“It’s been difficult but we’re moving on, we’re busy, we’re profitable again and we’ve weathered the storm.”

The pair were sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday, February 17.