July 08, 2025
A dental manager has been jailed for stealing a quarter of a million pounds from her practice - blaming it on her colleagues with 'drugs, debts and family issues'.
Lisa Marie Jones, 55, spent the money on luxury handbags and shoes after paying herself up to £8,000 a month, more than six times her actual wage of £1,200.
Jones, who worked a 16 hour week, blamed colleagues at the Ormskirk practice when she was caught, before then saying she had been given the money as part of a secret love affair with the owner.
After being charged in 2018, she eventually admitted fraud and false accounting charges, totalling £282,958, in 2023, and was jailed for six years and nine months at Preston Crown Court.
Sentencing her, Judge Graham Knowles KC said: "For seven more years you denied what you had done and blamed others for what you had done until eventually you changed your plea to guilty.
"You abused your role and abused their trust."
The court heard Jones, from Scarisbrick, was employed as a practice manager from the 1980s until 2016 at Mansion House Dental Practice.
She was responsible for the payroll and finances of the business.
In 2000, dentist John Howarth took over the practice after working there for two years.
Jones continued in her position with an agreement any overtime would be paid in time off.
Mr Howarth worked an extra 52 hours a month to keep the business running, but was unaware Jones was adding numbers to her cheques after they had been signed off.
He sold the business to dentist Chris Fair after having a breakdown at home in 2014 and told his wife "enough was enough".
In taking over the business Mr Fair wanted to phase out cheques and begin digital banking, however Jones started changing payroll records, increasing her hourly rate of pay and the number of hours she worked.
Cecilia Pritchard, prosecuting, said: "Over a long period of years the defendant defrauded the practice, covering the time when it was owned by both Mr Howarth and Mr Fair."
In 2016, Mr Fair noticed money was missing from the company accounts and hired a financial investigator.
The investigation concluded Jones had taken £282,958 she was not entitled to and was later dismissed for gross misconduct.
Jones appealed against her sacking, in which she blamed colleagues and made false claims about having an affair with Mr Howarth.
In 2018, Jones was charged with fraud and false accounting and pleaded guilty in 2023.
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Content retrieved from https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2023-12-12/dental-manager-stole-almost-300000-from-practice