A SHOP manageress financed her wedding and honeymoon abroad with her boss's money, a court was told.

Sandra Munro also used some of the £9,000 she stole to give her famiily a lavish Christmas and when the financial discrepancies came to light she blamed a temporary sales girl.

Munro, aged 40, of Eldon Street, Tonge Moor, Bolton, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday to stealing the money between December 1 and January 31 last year. She was jailed for four months.

Andrew Marrs, prosecuting, said Munro was employed as manageress at The Card Factory shop in the Spinningate Centre in Leigh and her duties included banking the takings.

In July last year discrepancies came to light with the accounts and the police were informed. She was arrested but when questioned she blamed a temporary worker employed just before Christmas 2003.

She claimed that when she discovered money was missing she had tried to cover this up in the books as she did not want to lose her job, said Mr Marrs.

Brian McKenna, defending, said that Munro, who dabbed her eyes with a hankie during the hearing, said she had had a number of difficulties in recent years.

She is her sick mothers carer and had to juggle her responsibilities which was very stressful.

Two of her three children died when young babies and she found their birthdays and Christmas extremely difficult to come to terms with.

Just before Christmas 2003 Mr McKenna said she wanted simply to try to improve her lot.

He said she wanted to give her partner and children a good time after they got married early last year and the wedding and honeymoon in Turkey had to be financed.

Mr McKenna told the court: "It was too easy to be tempted by the money available."