Wife cheated with her personal trainer - then used his bank account to steal thousands from her boss... she was called a 'bitch' as she left court
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA lettings agent has been spared jail despite fleecing landlord clients and her bosses out of as much as £130,000. Joanne Barker, 46, a mother from Rochdale, secretly defrauded dozens of clients of Barton Kendal, a lettings agent where she worked as the manager of its Rochdale office.
She siphoned money into her own accounts and her personal trainer's - who she was having an affair with, a court heard. Her crime left the owner of the well-regarded family business 'humiliated and embarrassed', on the verge of a breakdown and the firm on the brink of bankruptcy.
But a judge spared Barker a prison sentence after hearing she was now a carer for her poorly mother. READ MORE: Brianna Ghey murder accused allowed to remain out of court as trial hears details of her injuries READ MORE: Recap of updates during day seven of the Brianna Ghey murder trial Barker diverted rental income into her personal account, created fictitious landlords and invented remedial work, with the cash also going into her bank, between May 2014 to November 2018 when she was finally rumbled, prosecutor Patrick Williamson told Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.
The defendant joined the family owned company, which has offices in Rochdale and Middleton, in 2009 and became the firm's lettings manager at the Rochdale branch.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk