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Chorley hotel thief faces £200,000 bill
A corrupt accountant who was jailed for stealing money from a Chorley hotel has been ordered to pay back more than £200,000.
Norman Hetherington was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to 18 charges of theft from The Pines Hotel, in Clayton-le-Woods, in 2009.
He may face a further 33 months in prison if he fails to pay back the 219,705.64 before January 23 2011, after police secured a confiscation order.
Hetherington, of Skipton Road, Foulridge, used his position as accountant company secretary to siphon 30,000 from the popular hotel's books and left it on the brink of bankruptcy.
As part of the new order, the hotel's owner Betty Duffin will receive 29,418.93 in compensation.
Operations manger, Rick Huxley said: "This has been hanging over us a long time and we are grateful to be getting the money."
They installed spyware software after the hotel appeared to be in financial difficulty despite being busier than ever.
Mr Huxley added: "It was a shock to us all when we found out what he had been doing."
Rachael Adams, who defended Hetherington in court, said he had been drowning in financial difficulties and he had resorted to stealing.
PC Adam Consterdine, an accredited financial investigator, said: "As part of the law, the judge takes into account money paid into his account six years prior to conviction which cannot be accounted for.
"That was 312,289.28."
Tells us your Chorley story. Contact Natalie Banks on 01257 264911 or email: natalie.banks@lep.co.uk
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Weather for Chorley
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
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