Jacqueline Bowden, 30, from Boverton in the Vale of Glamorgan, was working in the Lloyds TSB bank in Barry when she took the four bundles of notes from the strong room.

Colleagues said she made her job look easy, but beneath that veneer domestic matters were troubling her Prosecutor Ieuan Morris

Cardiff Crown Court heard how she tried to cover up the theft but confessed during an interview by an auditing team.

Bowden, who has repaid the money, was given a six-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay �200 in costs.

The mother-of-two described as a "high flyer" had run up debts of �32,000.

Prosecutor Ieuan Morris told the court: "She was a top performer, intelligent and hard working.

"She was promoted to personal account manager.

"Colleagues said she made her job look easy, but beneath that veneer domestic matters were troubling her and she had mounting debts of �32,000."

He said that she had taken the money "on impulse" and later made a "feeble attempt" to cover up the theft by altering her building society book.

"To go into the strong room of the bank and seize �12,000 is an act of almost unbelievable cheek and dishonesty Judge Philip Richards

But she was caught after applying for a loan to buy a �15,000 Mercedes.

"No doubt she felt the net beginning to close around her," said Mr Morris.

"She was interviewed by an auditing team and eventually tearfully broke down and confessed.

"Bowden was suspended and her career was put on stop," he added.

Timothy Evans, defending, told the court how Boverton began running up debts after buying a new house and socialising too much following the separation from her husband.

'Irrational'

Boverton was left to care for a 20-month-old daughter and suffered post natal depression after giving birth to her second child.

"The feeble attempt to cover up just goes to show how irrational her behaviour was at the time," said Mr Evans.

He described her crime as a "cry for help".

Judge Philip Richards told Boverton: "To go into the strong room of the bank and seize �12,000 is an act of almost unbelievable cheek and dishonesty.

"You are an intelligent woman who knew precisely what you were doing.

"But, I believe you are fundamentally a decent person who strayed," he added.