Rebecca Waterfall, 27, of Hulme, Cheshire, who had worked at Incentivise, a travel agent based in Lymm, has since had to pay the Conway family back.

They handed over £5,250 Waterfall for a Virgin Atlantic trip only top be pulled out of the check-in queue at Manchester airport by a detective, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Waterfall had taken the cash from the Conways before fraudulently using a credit card belonging to Incentivise’s bosses.

Waterfall worked for Incentivise between October 2015 and May last year and left the firm down £10,000.
Manchester Crown Court heard Waterfall had promised friends cheap holidays before passing on the losses to her employers.

Waterfall, of St Mary’s Street, earlier admitted fraud by abuse of position. She was due for sentence on Friday, but the judge adjourned the case so she could repay the Conways.

She has now been ordered to serve 13 months, suspended for two years, with 240 hours’ unpaid work.
She faces having her assets seized in Proceeds of Crime Act hearings later this year.

The Conways were able to go on their trip in the end after the investigating detective negotiated with Virgin, but still had to pay out more money.

Prosecutor Phil Dobson said: “They did travel, but only after considerable anxiety and paying anew from their own funds, facilitated by the officer who lobbied on their behalf with Virgin.

“They spent the first day of the trip unravelling and remaking arrangements, and all in the knowledge they would be asked to consult with the police, on their return, to pick up the threads of the police investigation.”