An former estate agency owner in Nottinghamshire has told a court how an in-house accountant who stole money decimated her trust in people and led to sell the business.

Kendra Jacob said her firm, Pure Estate Agents in Worksop, was trading well with eight members of staff including a £32,000-a-year accountant, Michael Twitty.

But two years ago it transpired that Twitty had been stealing cash from the business which, when auditors later looked through its accounts, was found to have totalled £7,850.

Witty was in substantial personal debt both then and now, owing £13,000.

Jacob (pictured) told the court that Twitty’s stealing had destroyed her faith in people because she had trusted him ‘with everything’.

She subsequently sold Pure and has taken a job with Martin & Co as a valuer.

“It absolutely broke my heart. I thought he was a friend as well. It affected not just me but my family,” she told the court.

“I was a very good employer as well. Any of them could have come to me and I would have helped them. It caused me to sell the business as well; I couldn’t trust anybody anymore”.

Worksop born and bred, 49-year-old Jacob had built the estate agency business from scratch after leaving the industry temporarily during the 2007/8 financial crash.

Whitty has admitted stealing the cash over a four-month period, reports Nottinghamshire Live.

Judge Nigel Godsmark QC gave Twitty a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 100 hours of unpaid work.

Read more about agent employees who steal.