Agency franchisee who stole £375,000 gets 32 months in prison

A letting agency franchise holder has been jailed after stealing £375,000 from clients.

Janine Pickett - who ran the Dorset Lettings office at Shaftesbury - allegedly used the money on a down-payment for a BMW, holidays to north America, Europe and the Caribbean, and to buy several Welsh ponies.

She has now been jailed for 32 months after pleading guilty to a charge of fraud by abuse of position.

Dorchester Crown Court heard that between January 2010 and November 2013 Pickett altered documents including bank statements and financial audit records in an attempt to cover up the theft.

A statement from Barrie George, the owner of the Dorset Lettings brand, says: On behalf of everyone at Dorset Lettings including the staff, landlords, tenants and suppliers, it is gratifying to see that justice has been served.

It has been a particularly stressful time for everybody and hopefully the conclusion of the legal case will help bring closure for all those directly affected.

Fortunately, Dorset Lettings is an ethical ARLA-licensed agent and client money protection insurance is a condition of the licence. We were able to make claims on behalf of all the landlords involved and facilitated the claims for tenants to get their deposits back.

We responded quickly to this crisis and I would like to pay tribute to all the staff who worked tirelessly under the most trying circumstances to help our customers. We continue to go from strength to strength.