THE cries of anguish from the public gallery said it all yesterday afternoon. As Christopher Grimes was jailed for 15 months for his part in his Aunt Mary's grand scam, his girlfriend and stepmother sobbed loudly.

His father Edward, 48, in the dock beside him, choked back tears as his son was taken down.

Years of lies and deception on Blair's part were finally over - but for the family members she drew into her crimes, another sentence had just begun.

The prime victims of Blair's crimes were her former employers at PMB Motors and South Cleveland Garages in Darlington, where it is likely she siphoned off about £1.3m.

Her own employees, at bridalwear business Manhattan House, were also her victims. All of them were working for a company funded by stolen cash and all were left without jobs when it was wound up.

Those people meant little to Blair and deceiving them would have meant less still. But she also involved the people she did care about in her five-year stealing spree.

Blair's daughter Claire Bartlett, 30, a former director of Manhattan House, faces losing her house because of her mother's crimes.

The deposit on her home, in Chapelhope Close, Darlington, is believed to have been provided by Blair and a hearing on Monday will determine where the money used to pay the mortgage came from. If the source was tainted funds from Blair's crimes, the house could be forfeit.

Mrs Bartlett's husband, Graham, was cleared by a jury in October of helping Blair to launder stolen cash.

The home that Blair shared in Summerhouse Grove, Darlington, with her husband, David, has already been sold for £275,000.

Monday's hearing will determine how much of the proceeds will go to victims and how much her husband will keep.

As Blair's barrister, Jane Waugh, said: "He will no doubt lose, if not everything, nearly everything."

For Christopher Grimes, a prison term is the penalty he must pay for allowing his aunt, who he worked for as a delivery driver at Manhattan House, to dupe him. He laundered £683,481, keeping almost £23,000 for himself.

Sentencing him, Judge John Walford said he accepted that the 25-year-old had been taken advantage of by his aunt.

"You are someone who is not very sophisticated. I'm quite satisfied that you were vulnerable to the blandishments of your aunt because of the regard in which you held her and because of the air of being a successful woman that she gave out."

The judge described Grimes senior, who was given 200 hours community service and told to pay £614 costs, as playing a minor role. He laundered £28,950, keeping £3,450 for himself.

Judge Walford made a confiscation order for his assets of £15,458.

Barrister James Robinson said Grimes was "bewildered" by his sister's behaviour. His wife Beverley, 43, was cleared in October of helping Blair to launder money.

John McArdle, former owner of PMB, was full of praise for the detectives who unravelled Blair's scam but far from forgiving of those she drew into her crimes.

He believes Blair stole £1.1m from him. "What people have to understand is these offences could not have been committed without the assistance of Mary's family," he said. "If Mary had made all the cheques payable to herself she would have been found out."

Detective Sergeant Chris Ashford, formerly of Darlington fraud squad, said Blair's victims were numerous.

"It's really difficult to say what her family's thoughts were. We never got to the bottom of that. But she was clearly very calculating in the way that she involved them."