A LAVISH wedding celebration helped snare a bride who stole nearly £170,000 from her boss

A SKINT clerk who stole £168,000 from her boss to pay for a dream wedding was rumbled when she invited him to the lavish bash.


Kirsty Lane splashed out on a firework display, singers, ­musicians, free bar, DJs, a magician and face painter for the ­reception after her marriage to husband Graham.

Stunned guests received wedding gifts which included the happy couple’s initials printed on ­individual Smarties. But the no expenses spared party aroused the suspicions of boss Peter Sutton, especially as Lane always pleaded poverty at work. And the 29-year-old was last night awaiting sentence after admitting fraud by falsifying invoices at the audio visual firm where she worked.

After she appeared before ­magistrates, Mr Sutton said: “It was the wedding that first started to raise alarm bells. Up to that point we had no idea. She was always claiming poverty and didn’t do anything that would tip us off.

“Then the reception was the most lavish thing I’ve ever seen. I trusted her implicitly and this was how she repaid us.”

His business partner Richard Lister added: “It was like somebody had been to a wedding fayre and said, ‘I want one of everything.’

“We were joking with Kirsty, saying, ‘We are going back to work now to check the accounts’. She was laughing about it.


Kirsty Lane with her bridesmaids at her wedding

“From the moment you arrived at the wedding reception there was a harpist playing, the flowers were incredible. There was a ­saxophonist, a table magician coming round, canapes being served, a free bar, a singer performing throughout the meal and into the evening, a three-piece soul band.

“As it got dark there was a big firework display with their initials all in fireworks.

“I have no idea what it would have cost. But it would have been an absolute fortune. We completely trusted Kirsty. She had access to all the accounts.

“She had said her mum was made redundant and received some money and helped towards the wedding. We had no reason to disbelieve that.”

Lane married Graham at the Tudor-built Great Hall at Mains venue, in Little Singleton, Lancs. At the end of the evening the couple left in a white stretch ­limousine.

She worked at Pure AV in nearby Leyland for four years. As well as fiddling invoices, she also bought her unwitting ­bridesmaids their dresses using the accounts and a £1,500 jewel-encrusted case for her iPod.

Mr Sutton said the company loaned Lane £7,000 and boosted her wages to help her cope with the financial struggles.

Days after the January wedding while the mum-of-one was on honeymoon in the Lake District, a routine check of the firm’s accounts revealed the discrepancies.

Lane was arrested at her home in Adlington, Lancs.

Mr Sutton added: “You read about these things but you never think it will happen to you. It caused a lot of sleepless nights.

“We are not a large company, a lot of livelihoods depend on us.”

Lane will be sent to Preston crown court for sentencing later.