A trainee manager has been given a suspended jail sentence after she pleaded guilty to stealing £6,500 from her employers Marks and Spencer.

B'riley Seekings, of Hall Road in Clenchwarton, was given a six-week sentence suspended for 12 months and must pay £3,000 compensation to the department store.

She will also have to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a court cost of £180, King's Lynn Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Phil Charnley said a manager at the Marks and Spencer King's Lynn store began to notice money was going missing from the till and petty cash, so he interviewed staff and reviewed CCTV footage.

He said when the manager called Seekings, who worked in the food department, she admitted the theft.

Mr Charnley said the money was used to buy a bed for her son and a fridge freezer.

'She said she was going to put a bit back into the till each month,' he added.

The 22-year-old, who has since lost her job, admitted she stole money from the till during her time as a trainee section manager but denied she took any from petty cash and thought the sum she took was closer to the £2,000 mark.

For Seekings, Charlotte Winchester said the mother-of-one had formed a relationship with a man who became violent towards her.

The court heard Seekings, who carried out the crime throughout July and August, did not report the alleged abuse to the police.

'She was ashamed and embarrassed about it,' said Ms Winchester.

'She decided to take the money as a way of getting out and moving away from her partner.

'At that time she was desperate. In her words, she needed out.'

Chairman of the bench, William Hush, said the sentence reflected that Seekings had admitted the crime early on.