Online dating con woman hit by court delay

Pam Wareing, 54, stole the cash from a client account at Easthams on Church Street and transferred it into a bank in Dubai, Blackpool Magistrates was told.

She thought she was sending the money to her new online love who said he was an American serviceman – calling himself Carlos Lopez – who had promised to set up home with her and marry her.

Using her post as contracts manager she made £529,473.40 in cash transactions over a 46-day period.

Wareing, a mother-of-one from Brompton Road, Poulton, admitted the theft when she appeared before magistrates in Blackpool in March.

She was due to be sentenced last week at Preston Crown Court but the case was adjourned to October 13.

The money was taken from Easthams solicitors, of Church Street, Blackpool where she had worked for more than 20 years.