Vet nurse who stole £20k from boss avoids jail

A veterinary nurse who stole an estimated £20,000 from her boss has avoided jail.

Melanie Beever, who worked at Greenside Vets in Barnsley began stealing money and putting it in her own back account in August 2012 and only stopped in July 2016 after the surgery’s accounting procedures were tightened.

Simon Newbery, who runs the surgery, told Sheffield Crown Court about the devastating impact his trusted senior nursing assistant’s theft had had on him, his family, his business and the wider community.

He revealed that he had previously regarded the 50-year-old as a family friend due to the 29 years she had spent working for him.

Yorkshire Live reported that Mr Newbery felt “upset, confused and anxious” when he found out about the thefts, adding that he felt unwell for months.

Beever also tried to implicate another nurse in the thefts and was also said to have blamed the financial discrepancies on Mr Newbery while describing him as a “terrible employer”.

Judge Graham Reeds told Beever, of Kilnhurst Road, Rotherham, she will be known as a convicted thief for the rest of her life and that her reputation as a thief will follow her and will be part of her punishment.

He sentenced her to 21 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. She was also made the subject of a nine-month curfew and will be electronically tagged.

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