Perth woman jailed for stealing $1.2m because she liked ‘nice things’

A woman who stole a total of more than $1.2 million from two separate small businesses because she “liked having nice things” has been sentenced to six years and two months in jail.

Lynette Alison Corrie, 56, pleaded guilty in the WA District Court to 32 counts of stealing as a servant between November 2009 and June 2017, having made 389 transactions totalling $1,218,850.

Corrie was employed as an administration manager at Excell Decor Hardware in October 2009 and began transferring money into her own bank account a few weeks later.

She stole $689,866 via 199 transactions over five years.

The business went into voluntary administration in July 2014.

Corrie then began working as an office manager at Eltech Services in December 2014 and almost immediately began offending, stealing $520,487 via 153 transactions.

After she was confronted in July 2017, Corrie said she did it because she liked going out, drinking coffee and having nice things.

Judge Linda Petrusa said Corrie had no history of gambling, financial issues, drug or alcohol abuse, but was simply “living well beyond her means” and was effectively pocketing an extra $160,000 in cash every year.

“That is an income that…