A woman stole £18,000 while working at a supermarket petrol station by taking "£100 per shift".
Claire Bevan, 48, was investigated by Morrisons in December 2020 after the supermarket chain noticed "large losses" in the petrol filling station at its Cwmbran store.
Newport Crown Court heard that during the investigation carried out by Nicholas Hughes, CCTV footage found that Bevan, who was often left in charge of the store on her own, had been stealing money from the petrol station by voiding various items on the till and keeping the cash for herself.
On January 15, she was approached by Mr Hughes and asked "where the cash was that she had stole that morning" and five £20 notes were found in her handbag.
Nik Strobl, prosecuting, explained that Bevan worked around 30 hours a week at the petrol station over a period of four days and would use three different methods to steal the cash.
He said: "When people bought fuel and other items she would void those items, giving the correct change and pocketing the money for herself. When people bought just items from the shop she would void those items, open the drawer, work out the correct change to give and then pocket the money. If people were paying the correct amount for small items she would pocket the money."
As part of the investigation, the amount of voids that were recorded between February 4, 2020, and January 15, 2021, totalled close to £20,000.
Bevan, of Coleridge Green in Cwmbran, admitted to stealing around £100 per shift.
Karl Williams, defending, said that his client's offending was not motivated by personal financial gain as she was trying to "compensate" her children for a lack of contact and difficulties they had faced.
The court heard that Bevan spent the money on her family and that she believed the total amount that she had stolen was around £10,000.
She pleaded guilty to theft by employee on the basis that the amount was £18,000.
Recorder Greg Bull QC told Bevan that she had acted in a "thoroughly dishonest way" and that she had lost her previous good character.
He said: "After a period of time you acted in a thoroughly dishonest way. Whether you took that money to benefit your children or to benefit yourself is immaterial. You were totally and completely dishonest and now you have lost your good character."
Reducing the sentence by one quarter due to her guilty plea, Bevan was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years. She must also complete 60 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 hours.
