A primary school's admin officer stole the children's dinner money to spend on cocaine, a judge heard today.

Nia O'Sullivan, 39, snorted £25,000 worth of the drug before she was caught.

O'Sullivan, of Brynsiriol, Gwaun Cae Gurwen, also pocketed half of whatever the children paid towards school trips and concerts.

"It all went up her nose," said her barrister James Hartson.

O'Sullivan admitted five offences of theft totalling £25,000 from Ysgol Gymraeg Gwaun Cae Gurwen.

Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, told the city's crown court how O'Sullivan handled the school's finances for six years.

In January, 2017, she began stealing.

The children paid about £500 per week in dinner money and O'Sullivan - whose own two children attend the school - stole £300.

Concerts and other events could raise between £1,000 and £2,000, and she took half.

She also wrote cheques to herself for £1,000 and £800 by forging the signatures of the head and deputy head.

Mr Rees said she got away with the thefts for 12 months by transferring monies between accounts to cover the deficits.

But she was eventually caught and sacked.

Mr Rees said O'Sullivan found "weaknesses" in the accounting system and exploited them. "In her view the local authority did not look at the accounts as thoroughly as they should," he added.

Under the system O'Sullivan was not allowed to pay bills directly but raise them for the authority to pay and she would bank the cash payments to balance.

She told police she had been spending up to £500 a week on cocaine.

Mr Hartson said he was surprised anyone could buy that much cocaine in a place like Gwaun Cae Gurwen.

Judge Geraint Walters told her the thefts represented a serious breach of trust.

"Schools depend on the honesty of employees. It is said that the authority was not monitoring the system properly but that is no excuse to steal.

"There wasn't a shortage of money in your home and you have not paid back a penny.

"A message needs to go out and a lesson learned," he added.

O'Sullivan wept as she was jailed for eight months.