A Pendragon employee stole £15,000 from the dealership where she was based.

Nicola Evans was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence by Leeds Crown Court last week after she admitted the offence.

Evans had stolen the money while working in the administration department at Evans Halshaw Ford on Bradford Road, Batley, between October 2009 and August 2010.

Robert Casey, mitigating, said Evans had been ‘bullied’ into it by her boyfriend of the time, who also worked at the company as a technician.

The court was told Evans had been working at the company since 2008 and was responsible for banking up the firm’s cash and cheques.

An investigation was launched after an accountant noticed delays in money being transferred from the company to Securicor for banking.