A 58-year-old woman with serious health problems was given a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to stealing more than £27,000 from a former employer.

Rita Palfreyman, who walks with a stick, redirected payments from the company she worked for into her mortgage account.

Bradford Crown Court was told that she was employed temporarily as an accounts assistant by sealant firm James Walker Moorflex, in Bingley, between May and December 2008.

Prosecutor Kitty Taylor said the offending came to light when the company was notified by Revenue and Customs that nearly £28,000, to pay for tax and national insurance, was outstanding.

Mrs Taylor said Palfreyman had altered the BACS payments process, using a security card provided by the company. Inquiries revealed Palfreyman had phoned her mortgage company to indicate an advance payment was to be sent.

Mrs Taylor added: “That was her downfall. Those messages were recorded, and showed a degree of planning on her part.”

Palfreyman suggested to police, another worker, a man of good character, was responsible for the transaction.

The prosecutor said the total loss to the company, with interest, was £27,834. The money has yet to be returned.

Palfreyman, of Skipton Road, Farnhill, near Skipton, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to theft, but the court heard she still maintained her innocence.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall said he would not send her to prison because of her medical condition.

He sentenced her to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years, with supervision by probation.