A Stevenage woman who abused her position to defraud a health service agency out of almost £9,000 has been given a suspended sentence.

Jacqueline Greening, of Livingstone Link, fleeced the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control out of £8,829 while working at its South Mimms headquarters as a receptionist in 2014.

And the 59-year-old pleaded guilty to fraud when she appeared at Stevenage Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday last week.

District Judge Annabel Pilling sentenced her to six months in prison, suspended for two years, finding the offence to be serious enough that ‘only a custodial sentence is justified’.

She also ordered her to pay the £8,829 back in compensation and imposed an electronically monitored curfew, requiring Greening to be home from 9pm to 5am each night for eight weeks.

Greening must also pay £85 in costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

The NIBSC is part of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency – an executive agency of the Department of Health – and is a global leader in the standardisation and control of biological medicines.

The fraud, carried out between January 13 and December 15, 2014, was uncovered by the Department of Health’s anti-fraud unit.

An agency spokeswoman said: “Fraud within the health service will not be tolerated and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency welcomes the outcome of this case in relation to a former contractor of the NIBSC.”