Harry Hill was the first to be targeted at the Halifax branch in Wembley

Halifax employee Sharmane Dillon said she was threatened by a man who texted her demanding bank account details.

Hill was among customers from whose accounts �500,000 was stolen from May 2003 to December 2004, jurors heard.

Ms Dillon, 23, of Perivale, London, admits passing on account details but denies conspiracy to defraud.

She told Harrow Crown Court she had been approached twice by unnamed men who asked her to take part in a scam, but she had refused.

He said he would beat me up or he would get someone else to do it Sharmane Dillon

But when they asked a third time, the men told her they knew her name, knew she lived in Perivale and wanted her mobile number.

"I gave him my mobile number because he threatened me," Ms Dillon told the court.

"He said he would beat me up or he would get someone else to do it. He also threatened my family and I was scared."

Jurors heard Hill's account was the first to be targeted by thieves, when they texted Ms Dillon with the details they needed in April 2004.

She then printed out customers' account details and handed them over at an arranged meeting point, the court heard.

Ms Dillon said she did not tell anybody about her six-month ordeal, but denied ever gaining financially herself from the crime.

"It (money) was never mentioned...I would do what they wanted so I could just leave and go."