A SCHOOL'S head cook who stole £60,000 of the pupils' dinner money over four years has been jailed for ten months.

Paula Kester, 54, pocketed £15,000 a year from cash machines at St Hild's Church of England School in Hartlepool

Judge Peter Armstrong said at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday that suspicion fell on others because she continued to deny it.

Kester, of Percy Street, Hartlepool, was convicted of four charges of theft from Hartlepool Borough Council after a seven-day trial.

She claimed that the machines were faulty and that engineers were called out 22 times in one year to repair them.

Prosecutor Martin Towers said that £20,000 was traced to her bank account which was an indicator of what had happened to the money.

Martin Scarborough, mitigating, said that her husband was standing by her. She had waited two years for the case to come to court and she had been ostracised by parents in the town.

He added: "She does accept that she as convicted by the jury and she must accept the sentence guidelines.

"She has the support of her husband of 12 years. She is a grandmother, it has genuinely had a traumatic effect on her. It has taken a toll on her. It has been hanging over her for the last two years and it has had an effect on her health.

"She lost her job which she had held for many years as head cook in the school and shed has found it very difficult to get work. She is a lady of low risk of re-offending and low risk of harm to the general public."

Kester faces a Proceeds of Crime case in February when prosecutors will try to claw back the money she stole.

The judge told her: "The evidence that it was your responsibility for this money going missing is extremely clear and you showed no remorse.

"I am afraid that despite your previous good character I am not able to avoid an immediate custodial sentence."

Kester gave a thumbs-up to her husband as she was led away.