A FORMER bursar jailed for stealing £488,281 from the college where she oversaw finances must pay back £179,462.

The sum was agreed at a confiscation hearing in the case of Christine Starkey, at Durham Crown Court yesterday.

And it emerged that the proceedings had thwarted Starkey’s plan to start a new life in Spain In December, she received a three-year sentence after admitting theft from Durham University’s St Chad’s College between 2001 and 2007.

Confiscation proceedings then began to see what money could be retrieved from Starkey, whose home, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, was being sold at the time the investigation began.

The court heard her share of net proceeds of the sale of the Highfield Drive property were £103,058, forming the bulk of her assets.

A further £34,841 paid into her Durham University pension scheme, has also been recovered.

The 60-year-old, who frittered much of the stolen money on expensive clothes, as well as adding extensions to her home, was brought from Askham Grange open prison, in North Yorkshire, for yesterday’s hearing.

Recorder Howard Crowson agreed to the confiscation of £179,462, which will be passed on as compensation to St Chad’s College.

It must be paid by August 11, with a penalty of up to a further two years added to her prison sentence in default.

Steven Orange, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said confiscation proceedings began “in the nick of time”.

He said Starkey planned to transfer the money to Spain, where she and her husband, John, rented an apartment in Alicante.

“We were able to get an order freezing the money, as her intention had been to complete the sale and to take the money over to Spain.

“It can now be paid as a lump sum to the college rather than them losing it or getting an order for smaller sums from time to time.”

College principal Dr Joe Cassidy said: “The amount recovered was entirely in line with college expectations and the college is continuing its efforts to recover the full amount of money lost.”