Despite earning £17,000 a year, Kerry Stone managed to go on expensive holidays and own high performance BMW and Mercedes cars.

But it was to become apparent that her enjoyment of such luxuries were not from careful budgeting. It emerged that she had stolen almost £250,000 from her employers.

Stone salted the cash away over more than four years while she was a purchase ledger assistant with Mr Clutch in Priory Road, Strood, a court heard.

Prosecutor Charlotte Newell said the 32-year-old “trusted employee” took her bricklayer boyfriend Aaron Davis on a dream holiday costing over £12,000 for his 30th birthday.

“Much, or nearly all, of this fraud was based on greed. Clear evidence is to be found in expenditure on holidays in Africa and Mauritius, as well as Mexico, and cars" - Judge Jeremy Carey

Stone, of Chequers Court, Strood, was jailed for four years after admitting defrauding Mr Clutch and subsidiary company CIS out of £248,783 between February 2009 and June last year.

Davis, 34, also of Chequers Court, Strood, and Stone’s mother Maureen, 63, of Poplar Road, Strood, denied laundering some of the stolen cash and were acquitted by a jury.

Miss Newell told Maidstone Crown Court that Stone committed the large scale fraud by creating false invoices for payments that did not exist.

She entered the payments onto the company system and paid the cash into her own bank account, as well as the accounts of her mother and boyfriend.

“Presumably she thought if she put money into different bank accounts it would be less likely to attract suspicion,” said Miss Newell.

Just short of £110,000 was paid into Davis’ account and over £32,000 went into her mother’s account.

Stone took Davis on a lavish holiday to Mauritius and Kenya for his 30th birthday in September 2010, flying club and business class.

“That holiday was obviously beyond her legitimate means,” said Miss Newell. “She also used £30,000 paid into her mother’s account to put down a deposit on a house.

“She was also the owner of a BMW convertible car until July last year when it was put in the name of Mr Davis’ mother. Mr Davis drove a Mercedes coupe that had been Kerry Stone’s.”

Miss Newell said Stone claimed she started taking money from the company to pay off Davis’ drug debts.

About £27,000 in building society accounts was frozen and Stone’s home had been sold. A confiscation hearing will be held next March.

Judge Jeremy Carey told Stone: “You created an aura of honesty when, in fact, in the last four-and-a-half years you were stealing large sums of money on a regular basis.

“Much, or nearly all, of this fraud was based on greed. Clear evidence is to be found in expenditure on holidays in Africa and Mauritius, as well as Mexico, and cars.

“You went on and on stealing because you liked having that amount of money.”

Stone, he added, would serve up to two years in custody before being released on licence.