A WOMAN who stole more than £25,000 from her employer has been ordered to pay it back - at the rate of £5 a month.

Barbara Crewe's victim, Mike Johnson, fears he will never recoup the majority of his money because it will take 416 years.

Crewe, of Jasmine Avenue, Shildon, County Durham, was jailed for nine months in January at Durham Crown Court after she admitted stealing £26,220 from Darlington Rewinds.

The 54-year-old office administrator had worked for the small electrical contracting company, owned by Mr Johnson, for five months when she started writing cheques to herself and putting the name of genuine suppliers on the stubs.

Her theft was uncovered in April last year when 35-year-old Mr Johnson's partner, Angela Hill, noticed anomalies in the books.

The couple are now struggling to keep the business afloat and are outraged at the repayment rate set by Darlington County Court, which made a judgement against Crewe this month for £29,246, including costs and interest.

Ms Hill, 35, said: "She is out of prison now and owns a house in Shildon, but we have been told we have no claim on that unless she defaults on her payments.

"I have worked out that she stole an average of more than £900 a month."

Mr Johnson said: "Most people described Barbara as a typical grandma. She seemed all right and I did not suspect anything for a long time."

Ms Hill has given up her job as an insurance underwriter to work for Darlington Rewinds for nothing, and the couple, of Lawrence Street, Darlington, have remortgaged their home and the business in Whessoe Road to clear VAT bills.

Ms Hill said: "Our income has gone down from £40,000 a year to £9,600, and even living on that amount we do not know if the business will survive.

"But we are determined not to let that woman destroy us."