A BEWDLEY woman has been cleared of stealing a total of more than £55,000 from the company she worked for after prosecutors dropped the case, saying evidence had been lost in a fire.

Beverley Knight, 52, of Elton Road, had denied three allegations – of stealing amounts of £26,051, £14,452 and £15,378 from Pelican Food Services.

But, when she appeared at Worcester Crown Court, Judge Richard Rundell formally gave not guilty verdicts after the Crown Prosecution Service said its case was weak.

Andrew Davidson, prosecuting, said that, during 2008 to 2010, Knight was company secretary for the firm, where she was responsible for a lot of the business and payments to staff.

The company was facing financial problems by 2011 and 2012 and the director decided to merge it with another firm.

While the accounts were being settled, a number of “unexplained” payments were found to have been paid to Knight’s account, said Mr Davidson.

But he added that, after the defendant denied the allegations and preparations were made for a trial, a “number of weaknesses” were found in the case.

“Those weaknesses are getting weaker and evidence that should exist doesn’t exist,” said Mr Davidson.

“The company premises burned down and all the account details were lost.

“As far as the prosecution is concerned there no longer exists a realistic prospect of conviction and we offer no evidence.”

Gurdeep Garcha, defending, successfully applied for Knight’s travel expenses for court hearings to be reimbursed to her.