THE former assistant manageress of a seafront pub-restaurant has appeared in court accused of stealing £150,000 from the premises.

Kara Joy Kennedy, 29, of Harperley Drive, Sunderland, is charged with theft over a seven-year period up to last June, when she was working at the Pullman Lodge Hotel, in Seaburn, Sunderland.

She is also charged with three further theft offences, relating to store gift vouchers, in either 1999 or last year.

The case was adjourned yesterday at Durham Crown Court, following a defence request for accountancy information relating to the hotel.