Treasurer jailed after stealing £29,000 from Devon preschool

A debt-ridden treasurer who stole £29,000 from her local preschool funds in north Devon has been jailed for eight months.

Exeter Crown Court heard Jenny Cannon-Smith began stealing from Berrynarbour village preschool six months after taking up the role, and kept diverting money into her accounts for a year.

The court was told the fraud nearly led to the school’s closure, but the local community raised enough money in a week to pay staff and keep it going, with one pupil selling his Pokemon cards to raise funds.

However Cannon-Smith’s fraud meant tax has not been paid, the court was told.

School committee members said they had sleepless nights as they faced being held responsible for repaying the stolen cash.

The court heard 46-year-old Cannon-Smith, who had no previous convictions, was in a precarious financial position after she tried to run a local pub, but the business failed and she ran up large debts.