Bank manager jailed

A bank manager who stole £107,000 from elderly customers so he could lead the high life, has been jailed for 21 months.

Owen Danter, 33, a former Conservative Party official in East Yorkshire, deliberately targeted pensioners at the Driffield branch of the Santander Bank where he was the manager.

He took the money in 27 instalments from the accounts of five elderly women and the bank's cash machine between 2007 and 2009.

He stole £107,022, including £68,969 from one victim and £17,349 from another.

The thefts were exposed when the pretence of maintaining his double life became to much for him and then attempted to commit suicide. He was reported missing in July 2011 and left a note for his family and the bank confessing to taking funds for his own use, adding: 'The ATM will be down by £15,000.' Police found him in North Yorkshire.

Judge Jeremy Baker speaking of his victims said each of them will have been emotionally upset that the person they trust - their bank manager - has defrauded them.