A BUSINESS owner betrayed by an employee who defrauded the firm out of £160,000 said she has endured a year of hell.

Alison Saunders, owner of Tailored Education, spoke out after ex-worker and friend Terri Hardman, who is due to give birth in December, was jailed for two years and two months at Bolton Crown Court after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud.

Hardman, aged 30, of Cramond Walk, Bolton, had been office administrator and had transferred sums from company accounts, falsified bank statements and applied for loans in Ms Saunders’ name.

She also changed the payment details on invoices sent to schools in order to obtain money to fund a gambling addiction, the court heard.

Ms Saunders said: “It’s been 12 months of hell and I do feel, with the sentencing, there’s been a weight lifted off.

“It’s awful someone you have known for a long time can do something like that.

“We have got some of the money back but not all.

“We have been fighting off debt agencies, bailiffs and people offering us loans. None of the girls here knew what happened.

“It’s been a sad time because we have known her for a long time.

“It’s never nice when a woman goes to prison.

“I feel sorry for her family, for her son, for her partner and for her kid that’s not born yet.”