A CLEANER and her accomplice cheated her clients out of £15,700, York Magistrates Court heard.

Charlotte Carruthers, 26, took blank cheques from the back of chequebooks belonging to people whose houses she cleaned, said Katherine Smith, prosecuting.

She left their employment without warning or explanation on February 12, 2018, and started writing out the cheques so that the money went to Joseph John Matthew Phillips, 25.

“They fled down to live in Torquay in February and police had difficulty obtaining the addresses of the defendants,” said Mrs Smith.

The cheques varied from £500 to £1,200.

One victim didn’t realise £6,300 had been stolen from her until her bank froze her account in April because staff there suspected fraud, said Mrs Smith.

Another had £9,400 stolen from him.

Carruthers and Phillips, who each gave the same address in Regent Street, York, both pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud committed between February 17, 2018 and March 18, 2018.

District judge Adrian Lower decided the case was too serious for him to deal with because of the breach of trust involved and the amount of money taken, and sent them for sentence by a circuit judge. The pair will appear before York Crown Court on May 30.

Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks for Phillips and Ghaz Iqbal for Carruthers both claimed the defendants had been forced by others to carry out the crimes.

Mr Iqbal said: “She was under a certain degree of pressure, not by her co-accused but through others.” He denied the pair had fled to Torquay, saying the police had known their addresses.

Mrs Robins-Hicks said the pressure on Phillips “led to circumstances of desperation” for him.