Supermodel Erin O’Connor ‘lost ?45,000

Posted by mija on Nov 19, 2010 in News | 0 comments

A trusted aide to Erin O’Connor stole more than ?45,000 from the supermodel over three years to fund a ­lavish lifestyle, a court heard yesterday.
Michelle Knox-Brown, 45, ‘dishonestly abused her position’ as Miss O’Connor’s PA, it was claimed.
The 32-year-old model became suspicious over taxi bills of nearly ?8,000 in three years allegedly racked up by Knox-Brown, and further investigated her employee’s expenditure.
A source close to the 6ft supermodel, who reportedly has a ?12million fortune and is famous for advertising campaigns for Marks & Spencer and Toni & Guy, said she had been left ­‘distraught’ by the allegations.
Knox-Brown, who was based at an office at Miss O’Connor’s home in Camberwell, south London, yesterday appeared at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court accused of two counts of theft and two counts of fraud between January 1, 2007 and March 1, 2010.
In charges read to the court, Knox-Brown was accused of obtaining ?30,201 by ‘stealing cash and making unauthorised purchases on a credit card belonging to Miss E. O’Connor’.
She was also accused of ­stealing petty cash amounting to ?7,111.
A third charge related to the taxi bills.
Knox-Brown was told: ‘While occupying the position of personal assistant to Miss E. O’Connor you were expected to safeguard and not act against the financial interests of Miss E. O’Connor.
‘You dishonestly abused that position to make a gain, namely making unauthorised taxi ­journeys amounting to ?7,888.’
On the fourth count, she ­allegedly committed fraud and ‘dishonestly abused her position by claiming 38 days’ work’ which she failed to carry out.
Dressed all in black, Knox-Brown spoke only to deny all four charges at the hearing.
The PA, a single woman of Hackney, north London, was granted bail and is expected to stand trial in March next year.
Jonathan Polnay, prosecuting, said the the trial would require only two witnesses – including Miss O’Connor – and was expected to last four days.
He said to the court: ‘While it is an allegation of fairly straightforward dishonesty, the complainant in this matter is a professional model with many commitments.
‘We’d be grateful if the court could accommodate that by giving a fixed date for the trial.’
Originally from Walsall, Miss O’Connor was discovered while attending the Clothes Show in Birmingham.
She has been described by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld as ‘one of the best models in the world’.
She lives in London with her boyfriend, financier Dan Stewart.
Read more: dailymail.co.uk