Nationwide cashier forced to repay more than £12,000 she stole from elderly and vulnerable customers after being caught out by Facebook pictures of her lavish holidays

 A Nationwide cashier has been ordered to repay more than £12,000 after she stole money from elderly and vulnerable customers to fund her lavish holidays.

Kelly Kershaw, 54, was finally caught after her colleagues became suspicious of her boastful Facebook posts which showed the mother-of-two on ski trips, safari and romantic European getaways.

She also wrote on social media that she was 'living and loving life one adventure at a time'.  

Staff at the building society were confused as to how Kershaw could afford such a luxurious lifestyle on her cashier's salary. 

It was later uncovered that Kershaw, who had worked at Nationwide for 17 years, was making fake cash withdrawals from elderly or vulnerable customers and pocketing their money.

She was jailed in May this year but returned to Caernarfon Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act application to retrieve her ill-gotten gains.

The court heard she had benefited to the tune of £13,333.26 from her crimes - and had £12,630 in assets that could be reclaimed.

Judge Nicola Jones ordered Kershaw to repay the sum within three months or face a further five months in prison.

Kelly Kershaw, 54, was finally caught after her colleagues became suspicious of her boastful Facebook posts which showed her on exotic holidays 

Kershaw was jailed for 16 months in May but she returned to Caernarfon Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act application to retrieve her ill-gotten gains

She had previously admitted five counts of fraud while working at Nationwide in Caernarfon, North Wales - and all of her victims were reimbursed by the building society.

During the May hearing prosecutor Elen Owen said Kershaw had been transferred to work at the branch in June 2020, which had a 'high number of vulnerable customers'.

'After a while co-workers noticed the defendant appeared to have a lavish lifestyle,' she said.

'She was regularly going on expensive foreign holidays and there were other indications of extravagant spending.'

Ms Owen said 'due to the suspicions raised' an internal probe was launched by Nationwide and identified five victims.

Ms Owen said Kershaw - who also drove a personalised BMW convertible - would process cash withdrawals from accounts but pocket either some or all of the money for herself.

Kershaw's victims included an 85-year-old man who had lost some 'cognitive abilities' after suffering a stroke - and she stole £6,300 from him.

Another victim was a 49-year-old man who suffered learning difficulties who lost £1,400 to Kershaw - and 'ironically' had his bank card kept in the branch as he was a previous victim of fraud.

Kershaw skiing. Staff at the building society were confused as to how Kershaw could afford such a luxurious lifestyle on her cashier's salary

Kershaw in Paris. The cashier could afford her holidays by making fake cash withdrawals from elderly or vulnerable customers and pocketing their money

Ms Owen said Kershaw was interviewed by financial investigator John Hancock in November 2024 and admitted what she had done and was arrested by police.

Ms Owen said: 'The total amount which can be shown to be taken fraudulently is £8,605, the building society did however reimburse customers to the total of £12,630.'

Kershaw of Nefyn, North Wales, admitted five counts of fraud, during 2023 and 2024.

Amy Edwards, defending, said Kershaw, who now worked in the office of a cleaning firm was suffering from a 'compulsive spending addiction' at the time.

She said: 'She gave a full and frank admission to the offence and showed remorse to each of her victims. That is genuine remorse and regret for what she did.'

Judge Timothy Petts said Kershaw needed to be jailed as a 'deterrent' to other cashiers so as to 'prevent others from doing the same'.

He told her: 'While working as a building society cashier in Caernarfon you systematically stole £8,605 from five elderly or vulnerable customers over a period of 11 months.

'Your pattern of offending was repeated. You forged people's signatures or you would take their card to withdraw a large sum from the account and only hand over part of it.

'You were asked why you targeted those people in particular, you said they were 'easy targets who wouldn't notice the money going from their accounts.'

'The reality is you only stopped stealing money because suspicions were raised about your lifestyle, investigations took place and your fraud was discovered.'

He added: 'Appropriate punishment in this case can only be achieved in my view by immediate custody.

'The reality is such sustained fraud and breach of trust against vulnerable customers has to be taken very seriously.

'It shakes the confidence and trust in Nationwide and other financial institutions if cashiers in positions of trust such as you can skim off £8,000-plus without any consequences. Cashiers have to be trusted.'