A TRUSTED office manager who stole almost £50,000 and plunged a family business to the brink of liquidation has walked free from court.

Nicola Leadstone was taking an average of £500 a week but her barrister claimed there was no evidence of her “living high on the hog”.

Yet Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday she bought a car, furniture and funded two family holidays during her two-year thieving spree.

Leadstone, 37, said in a letter written to the court: “I understand the effect my crimes will have on everybody. I am deeply sorry.

“Not only were they my colleagues, they were my friends, and I have let them down. It is a decision I will regret for the rest of my life.”

Leadstone worked for Middlesbrough Insulation Company Ltd, which has a cavity wall and boiler installation arm called Heatpac, and an MOT garage next door.

She was responsible for any takings, wages, paying suppliers and collecting rent from a tenant who lived in a house owned by the company.

After the thefts came to light early last year, 11 members of staff – with combined experience of more than 100 years – had to be laid off.

Managing director Callum Green, whose grandfather started the business, tearfully told Judge Peter Armstrong of the impact of Leadstone’s crimes.

Among those he had to make redundant were his own brother and uncle, and he said: “One had been working for 32 years after leaving school and joining my grandfather.

“The business could still go into liquidation,” said Mr Green. “As managing director during the time of these thefts, this has caused me a great deal of stress.

“I have felt stupid and embarrassed at not discovering the theft sooner. I did not want to be the one to close my grandfather’s company.”

Leadstone, of Rosewood Close, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges of theft and was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

She was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work, 30 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement, and observe a four-month tagged curfew between 9pm and 7am.

Her barrister, Christopher Morrison, said an immediate prison sentence “would be the ruin of her” and said there was nobody in her family who could look after her five-year-old daughter.

The Judge told her: “There seems to be no prospect of you repaying this money.”