A DISGRACED former parish clerk who lined her pockets with more than £26,000 of Bratton Parish Council’s funds over 11 years has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft and fraud.

Anita Louise Whittle, of Southway, Bratton, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft by employee, one of fraud by false representation and another by obtaining property by deception on Friday at a Salisbury Magistrates Court hearing.

The court heard how between May 29, 2013, and December 12, 2015, the 49-year-old stole £11,372.66 from Bratton Parish Council, during her time as the parish clerk, and a further £600 between April 1, 2014 and April 6, 2015.

Whittle also pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation as between January 14, 2007 and July 31, 2016, she used £13,107.63 in cheques raised on behalf of the parish council which were to be paid into Wiltshire Council’s pension fund was pocketed for her own benefit.

Finally she gave a guilty plea to obtaining property by deception between December 1, 2005 and February 15, 2007, where she took £1,821.01 from the parish council that were supposed to go into her pension when in fact they were retained for her personal use.

Whittle, who resigned from her parish clerk roles at Bratton, Erlestoke, Great Cheverell and Coulston last September during the investigation, had originally pleaded not guilty but changed to give a guilty plea at the hearing.

Bratton parish councillor Jeff Ligo uncovered the scandal at a meeting in July when he raised concerns about accounting procedures not being followed.

An auditor’s report was carried out and showed that money was missing, the council did not maintain a receipt book, payments from the council’s bank account could not be traced to original supporting vouchers, regular budget reports had not been submitted to the council and there were accounting errors too.

“This is deeply disappointing news. This is a lesson for all councillors to appreciate the importance of their roles and responsibilities – people will feel let down by this,” said Cllr Ligo.

“This was difficult for me as it is my own village but it was important to challenge this and bring this to light.

“We have already recovered the £11,372.66 on insurance and are looking into recovering the rest of the money.”

At the hearing, prosecutor Vyvyan Thatcher said that this case should go straight to Crown Court as it exceeded the sentencing powers of the Magistrates.

The date for her Crown Court case has not been fixed yet and in that time a pre-sentencing report will be carried out to gather more information and Whittle was released on unconditional bail.