AN accounts manager stole nearly £7,000 from her firm to pay off her brother’s drug debts.

Phillipa Cross was scared that her brother might be injured or even killed by his suppliers, Worcester Crown Court heard.

She created false payments to genuine customers of Cook Associates in Alfred Court, Stoke Prior, then paid the money into a bank account, said Peter Parson, prosecuting.

Judge Alistair McCreath said most people who stole from their employers did it out of greed to fund gambling or drink habits.

But Cross knew her heavily addicted brother was “in deep trouble” and she acted “to save him from a terrible fate”.

He told the 29-year-old: “This was a flagrant breach of trust over a significant period of time. But I am satisfied it is a very unusual case.”

He sentenced Cross, of Churchill Road, Bromsgrove, to four months jail, suspended for 12 months, and ordered her to carry out 180 hours of unpaid community work.

The judge adjourned confiscation proceedings for six months to give her a chance to repay the £6,929 she stole.

Cross worked for the exhibitions firm for three years, eventually leaving in October last year, said Mr Parson.

Her successor looked into the accounts and became suspicious of the figures, triggering an investigation. Cross was found to have falsified invoices, putting funds into her mother’s bank account to which she had access.

She told police her brother, who is now in jail, was heavily addicted to class A drugs and had significant debts. Jennifer Josephs, defending, said Cross wanted to repay the money and now had a job erecting Christmas lights, which paid £1,000 a week.

“She is a bright and charming woman who found herself in an appalling situation through her own foolishness,” said Miss Josephs.

But she had no previous convictions and her behaviour had not put other employees under suspicion.