A TEACHER has wept with relief as a charge of fraud was dismissed in court.
Collette Ward (31) said she was eager to get back into the classroom after a "nightmare" two and a half years.
Ms Ward, from Ballyquillan Road in Crumlin, Co Antrim, had appeared at a contest hearing in Belfast.
She had been accused of falsely representing the number of hours spent working in the extended schools programme at St Joseph's College in south Belfast.
Ms Ward was head of home economics and also extended schools coordinator at the non-selective secondary, which educates about 600 pupils.
The charge related to a period between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2013, and the overpayment, the court heard, was estimated to be "£14,250 or thereabouts".
Extended schools provide for a range of services or activities outside of the normal day to help meet the needs of nursery, primary, secondary and special school children as well as their parents, families and wider community. These include clubs, activities, classes and support for learning.
As coordinator, and also head of a seven school cluster, Ms Ward was entitled to £25 an hour.
Aaron Curragh, an audit manager with the former Belfast Education and Library Board, told the court that it queried the number of hours Ms Ward claimed she had worked.
"A large amount of hours were claimed on a monthly basis and hours for Ms Ward in the summer period when the school was closed," he said.
"It is impossible to work those hours on top of your substantive job."
Mr Curragh said one such claim, for 103 hours, was made in July 2013.
Defence barrister Jonpaul Shields said Ms Ward maintained that a new computer system, introduced to document the number of hours worked, had created difficulties.
Figures that were sent using the new system, Mr Shields said, were not the same figures that Ms Ward thought she worked.
Errors only crept in when Ms Ward was no longer able to document her hours by hand. The school later abandoned the computer system.
In addition, Mr Shields said there was never any documentation produced to say that extended summer schools work could not take place during the summer months.
Mr Shields said that when Ms Ward was first made aware of the issue, which included a claim for work carried out on July 12, she described it as "nonsense".
"It's not really above the realms of possibility that she had to do a lot more work," Mr Shields said.
"It is quite clear that she was making complaints about the computer system. She was unhappy about it."
Ms Ward, who was supported by her family, was not called to give evidence.
District judge Ken Nixon said the standard of reasonable doubt would not be reached and dismissed the matter.
Speaking outside court on Wednesday, Ms Ward said she hoped to return to school.
"I'm just relieved it's all over. It has taken up the last two and a half years of my life and it has been a nightmare," she said.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to work."
