Stile pub managers flee with £4,000

A husband and wife are awaiting a jury verdict after it was discovered that they cleared off with £4,000 from The Stile pub where they worked as managers.

As reported in the Daily Echo, Stephen and Deborah Read closed up the Highfield pub on June 8 last year, pulled the CCTV system’s plug and left in the middle of the night armed with the entire contents of the safe containing thousands of pounds.

According to prosecutor Rod Blain, staff turned up for work the following day to find the pub still locked. The Stile’s chef, Tim Ward, later opened it up to find the premises completely deserted, the tills still on and the safe emptied of cash. An auditor calculated that £4,000 was unaccounted for.

Mr and Mrs Read, who ran the Stile for four years, were later tracked down to the Humberside area where Mrs Read’s son lives. They told the court that they had fled without giving notice simply because they had ‘had enough’.

However, the couple denied taking the money with them when they left, insisting that Mr Read had instead ‘thrown’ the money into the safe and left the key on top

We had no reason to take that money”, said Mrs Read.

Jurors are to consider their verdict today and the two face a single count of theft from the Punch Pub Company Ltd, for which both have pleaded innocent.

Mr and Mrs Read were managers at The Stile for four years