TRIBUTES have been paid to a Poole council worker who took her own life after a fraudster she befriended while employed in a young offender institution plundered more than £6,000 from her savings.

Former prison officer Karen Mulliner, 36, was founded hanging at her home in Dragoon Way, Christchurch, on September 13 last year. An inquest recorded a suicide verdict.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Miss Mulliner had met Michael Grey, 23, at Rochester prison in 2007. Following his release she separated from her husband and they moved to the South Coast to make a fresh start.

But their relationship turned sour and Grey sent Miss Mulliner abusive text messages, threatening to tell her parents about their secret relationship.

After Grey had moved back to Essex she discovered a photograph of him on Facebook showing him holding a wad of £20 notes. On checking her bank account, Miss Mulliner was horrified to find that £300 had gone missing every day for three weeks from the proceeds of the sale of her matrimonial home.

Grey admitted fraud between August 10 and August 31, involving £6,300 from cash machines in the Essex area.

In a statement Miss Mulliner’s council boss said she had been tearful and told him it was “the last straw”. Just days later she was found dead. Grey was arrested on October 4.

He refused to leave his cell at Chelmsford prison where he is serving a 30-month sentence and, in his absence, was jailed for eight months.

Cally Antill, Borough of Poole’s head of community services, said: “Karen was a valued member of our team and is much missed by us all.

“We were shocked and deeply saddened by Karen’s death. Her work supporting vulnerable victims of antisocial behaviour made a valuable contribution to helping people feel safer and more empowered.”

One of Miss Mulliner’s neighbours, who did not want to be named, said: “She was very attractive, but kept herself to herself.”

Another said: “It was very sad. They hadn’t been here very long, but she seemed very nice.”