TWO sisters who blamed each other for spending £135,000 mistakenly deposited in a bank account have been jailed.

The cash was splashed on high-priced electrical goods, furniture, groceries and even a £10,000 holiday to Florida.

But 20-year-old Sarah Lee and 25-year-old Amanda Moorcroft, from Blackburn, each said that the other was responsible for the idea of spending the money.

They have now both been jailed - receiving a year in a young offenders' institution and ten months in prison respectively.

Mother-of-one Lee discovered the cash in her Abbey National bank account after going to withdraw £10 from the King William Street branch, in Blackburn, in November 2006.

She had expected to find only £6.59 in her account - but instead found £135,006.59.

The money had been put in by the Deutsche Bank of Frankfurt in error.

Preston Crown Court had previously heard how dyslexic 20-year-old Lee, of Dunoon Drive, Shadsworth, had difficulty understanding her bank statement and had gone to her sister Amanda Moorcroft, of Sandon Street, to ask what to do.

And after the theft was discovered, Lee handed police a 10-page document pointing the finger at her sister, prompting a judge had to delay sentencing in December until the issue of blame had been resolved.

At Preston Crown Court yesterday John Woodward, defending Lee, said that she had been 'candid' when speaking to police and added: "It has effectively cost her an awful lot in terms of friendship and loyalty from family members.

"She is very naive and easily led. It was not her idea to split the money up but she went along with it.

"She does not understand anything to do with the business world and could not understand how a big business like Abbey had made a mistake."

But Wayne Goldstein, defending Amanda Moorcroft, said: "Temptation got the better of her.

"She accepts equal responsibility but not that she manipulated her sister."

The court heard that the sisters went on an initial shopping spree in Blackburn and bought a pair of trainers.

Moorcroft was then said to have used her sister's debit card to book a £10,000 First Choice holiday to Florida and spent £3,000 at Currys, £1,000 at CSC and £2,000 at Carpet Kingdom.

Most of the items were then given to Lee.

Lee signed a banker's draft for £40,000 over to Amanda's husband David Moorcroft, 42, and another one for the same amount to his brother Winston Moorcroft, 39, of Rothesay Road.

A cheque for £17,000 was given to Mark Uttley, 27, of Preston New Road - on the provision that he gave £10,000 of it back to the family in dollars and used the other £7,000 as a loan to set up his own business.

A total of £131,640 was spent before the mistake was noticed. Around £57,700 has since been repaid by the defendants.

Lee pleaded guilty to 11 counts of theft and one of retaining wrongful credit from the Abbey National.

Amanda Moorcroft admitted seven charges of theft; David Moorcroft admitted one offence of handling; Winston Moorcroft also admitted handling, as did Uttley.

Sentencing Lee, judge Pamela Badley said: "You spent the money, you signed the cheques.

"You may have been naive but you were also very opportunistic. You were led by others."

Labelling Amanda Moorcroft the 'hub' for handing out the cash, the judge said: "You are a little more worldly wise than your sister.

"You spotted an opportunity and you lost no time in turning this chance to your advantage. It was sheer greed on your part."

The mother-of-two broke down in tears as she was sentenced.

Her husband David Moorcroft was given a 12-month prison sentence and told that as a husband and a father he 'should have known better.' Judge Badley said that gambler Wayne Moorcroft had 'frittered away' the £40,000 he had received and now faced losing his house to repay the money he still owed.

He was given a 12-month custodial sentence.

Former soldier Uttley was given a four-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 180 hours of unpaid work.