‘T-223
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ANNE NIELD
DEFENCE STATEMENT
Charge: False Accounting, contrary to s.17 of the Theft act 1968.
Date of PCMH: 9" August 2012
Solicitors: Lawrence Lee & Co
529 West Derby Road
Liverpool
L13 BAA
General Nature of the Defence
1. The defendant denies:
(a) that she acted dishonestly; or
(b) that she had an intention to gain or cause lass to any person.
Matters upon which the defendant takes issue with the Prosecution case
2. The defendant takes issue with the prosecution case in the following
ways:
(a} The defendant accepts that losses were shown on the Horizon
computer system from 2005. The defendant does not know how
the losses were incurred. The defendant now believes that such
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losses may have shown as a result of failures in the Horizon
computer system;
(b) Initially the defendant and Angela Sefton repaid the apparent
losses from their own money;
(c) The defendant accepts that as time progressed she was unable
to maintain the repayment of the apparent losses. At this stage,
the defendant accepts that she delayed entering the value of
some cash or cheques onto the Horizon system, Latterly, the
defendant admits that she delayed crediting payments in by
Animals in Need. However, this was not done with a dishonest
intent or with any intention to make a gain or cause the
complainant any loss. Rather, it was a desperate attempt to
make good the apparent losses on the system, At no stage were
Animals in Need ever deprived of any money they paid in,
rather, the crediting of it to their account would be delayed.
(d) When the first shortfall showed on the Horizon system (£4000),
Anne Nield immediately notified Ali Asker, the Sub-Post master.
The Post Office was contacted and a representative attended
but was unable to locate where the shortfall had arisen. Mr Ali
Asker became very angry about the situation. The defendant
found Mr Asker very intimidating. She lives on her own. She
became aware that Mr Asker had been suspended for a number
of months following an allegation assault. As a result of her fear
of Mr Asker, the defendant was too afraid to tell him of the
difficulties with the apparent losses. The defendant was alsa
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afraid to notify the Post Office as a result of the scale of the
prablern,
3. The defendant requests disclosure of the following items:
{a) Any material that points towards other suspects in this case;
{b) Details of any bad character of any prosecution witness;
(c) Details of complaints and investigations into the Horizon
computer system.
4. The defendant takes issue with all evidence that is inconsistent with
the terms of this defence statement.
SIGNED ....
ANNE NIELD
DATED...