School worker jailed for stealing chicken wings worth over £1m

A school worker has been jailed for nine years after stealing $1.5m (£1.18m) worth of chicken wings.

Vera Liddell’s year-long heist of the flightless birds soared to 11,000 cases of the wings, which were meant for students during the height of the COVID pandemic, prosecutors say.

The 68-year-old started the scheme in July 2020 and was not found out until a business manager at her school near Chicago found that food costs were $300,000 (£235,000) over budget during a routine audit, according to US media reports.

Liddell bought up the huge amount of food and used a school cargo van to pick it up – students never saw a single wing.

Schools were closed at the time because of the pandemic, but the district was still sending out meal kits to pupils who were learning remotely.

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Liddell, who was food service head for 10 years at the district, was originally charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise.

She was handed a nine-year jail sentence after pleading guilty.

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