A sales assistant who stole thousands of pounds from her employer wept as she was given a suspended jail sentence.

Gillian Walker, of Caversfield, near Bicester, stole £10,403 from Craft Central, a craft supplies retailer, between February and May.

Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday the 29-year-old was in charge of banking the shop's takings, but deposited the cash in her own account.

Ian Thomas, prosecuting, said: "She began taking money to the bank but began realising she could keep the cash and apparently her employers seemingly did not notice."

Mr Thomas said the mother-of-one confessed to her boss after being confronted about why the till receipts did not match the amount banked.

When interviewed, she said she had spent some money on her wedding, paying off existing debts and paying a fine for her husband.

The court heard the mother-of-one, who admitted theft, had not told her husband or friends about her court appearance.

Tony McGeorge, defending, said she earned £6-an-hour as a sales assistant at Craft Central, which has a store at Wyevale Garden Centre, Bicester.

He said: "The family's income was such that they were very, very stretched.

"It is clear it was very much on her conscience — she knew what she was doing was wrong. She very much regretted what she had done.

"The money was certainly not used to pay for her wedding. That money had come from her own parents and in-laws."

The court heard the thefts coincided with a period of post-natal depression.

He said: "About what her husband's reaction is going to be is something about which she is very fearful. She is clearly very, very worried about his reaction to discovering that she has been stealing money — that it will be extreme and that he will immediately file for divorce.

"She is very anxious, however long it takes, to pay every penny back."

Judge Julian Hall gave Walker a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered her to pay £500 compensation.

He said: "People who steal from their employers are treated very, very seriously by the courts.

"It is viewed as a breach of trust — but it seems to me there are degrees of trust.

"For doing this responsible job you were being paid marginally more than the minimum wage. I do not see that employers can have it both ways.

"Having got yourself in a hole it seems to me you dug it deeper and deeper, that by your age you have not faced up to this very unpalatable fact and you have not told your friends — let alone your husband — about what you have been doing. Have courage — he may forgive you."