I'll never forget dance drama says Weymouth guesthouse owner (From Thisisdorset)

I'll never forget dance drama says Weymouth guesthouse owner

11:30am Monday 13th July 2009

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A GUESTHOUSE owner said she wasn’t surprised after a woman on the run who stayed the night was jailed for her crime.

Alison Wilcocks says she will never forget the saga which made national headlines.

Mrs Wilcocks, who runs the Arcadia in Weymouth with husband Roy, spoke after Swindon dance school administrator Amanda Williams was jailed for 18 months for stealing almost £20,000 from a fund to send pupils to a dance competition in America.

Williams, 52, was arrested at the guesthouse in Waterloo Place after fleeing to Weymouth from Wiltshire in April.

She had taken £19,398 from Bobbi’s Dance Academy, which is run by her daughter, Bobbi Newman.

The money was to pay for 14 girls to take part in a 10-day visit to the Dance Excellence competition in Los Angeles.

The girls were left heartbroken at the airport when it transpired that flights and hotels had not been booked and the money was missing.

But the troupe eventually went to the competition after the dancers, their parents and an anonymous donation paid for the trip at the last minute. Organiser Dance Excellence waived the entry fees and paid for hotels for the girls.

Williams, who admitted fraud, was sent to prison for 18 months after appearing at Swindon Crown Court.

It was revealed that Williams had a previous conviction for theft from an employer after stealing £10,000 from the takings of a taxi firm. She was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in 2005.

Speaking after the sentencing, Mrs Wilcocks said: “I’m not surprised she went to jail because it was something very drastic that she did and it involved a lot of money.

“I do think the case is very sad and I’m still shocked by the fact she came to our guesthouse.

“Having been in the business for a while you encounter all sorts of things but this experience is one that I won’t forget.”

Mrs Wilcocks told last month how police had not asked for the money Williams had paid for four nights’ accommodation to be returned so she donated it to good causes.

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