A JUDGE spared a couple jail for a £100,000 theft after hearing a bank was to blame for putting the cash into their account.

Colin and Susan Clack left the unexpected windfall for a year to see if the mistake was rectified before they started withdrawing money.

When the error was finally spotted by officials, the Darlington couple had used more than half of it, Teesside Crown Court was told.

The mix-up happened after the Clacks sold a house in Ireland to move to Spain in 2006 and made 111,000 euros from the deal.

A cheque sent from a firm of solicitors in Dublin would not be accepted by their bank because it had an incorrect date, the court heard.

A partner in the law firm arranged for an electronic transfer of the funds and the couple’s account was credited with the payment.

However, a short time later, the cheque was cleared by a member of staff at the bank and the money paid into their account.

The court heard how Mrs Clack wanted to come clean, but her husband said it should serve as payback for the “messing about” they endured.

They left the cash untouched until they believed they had got away with it – then withdrew sums of 5,000, 11,000 and 50,000 euros.

After the solicitors realised the mistake during an audit, the Clacks were arrested at their then home in Barmpton Lane, Darlington.

Mrs Clack, 53, who works in a town centre pub, claimed she had been pressurised by her 54-year-old husband.

She told police that they had lent their son 55,000 euros to get a mortgage and he has failed to pay them back and fled to Belgium.

Mr Clack said he thought the solicitors must have forgotten about the money after waiting a year and decided to spend it.

His barrister, Carl Swift, said: “He recognises that that is entirely inexcusable... it was a momentary lapse.”

Mr Swift said it would make no sense to jail him as he had the offer of a job as a submarine engineer and could do community work.

David Lamb, for Mrs Clack, said: “What is as plain as a pikestaff is that Susan Clack would never be appearing in this court were it not for the persuasion of her husband.

“Her immediate reaction was one of horror that this mistake had been made. She told her husband they should repay the money immediately.”

Judge Tony Briggs gave her a community order with 12 months supervision and ordered her to do 100 hours of unpaid community work.

Her husband received a 12- month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with supervision and was ordered to do 200 hours of community work.

The judge described it as a highly unusual matter, saying: “It sounds as though it was a bank error by meeting a cheque that was out-ofdate.”

The Clacks, now of Crosby Street, Darlington, both pleaded guilty to a charge of theft at an earlier court hearing.