AN education manager has been convicted of duping her two Hampshire colleges out of 1.7m supermarket reward points.

Alison Robinson was found guilty by jurors at Winchester Crown Court of two charges under the Fraud Act after scamming more than £8,000 of Nectar points.

The 46-year-old netted them by linking bulk catering contracts at two Hampshire colleges where she worked to her own personal card.

Robinson said the points were a “personal thank you” from suppliers for giving them contracts, but the jury did not agree.

Robinson, who had no previous convictions, now faces an anxious wait to learn her fate.

She previously worked as operations manager at Sparsholt College near Winchester and in 1993 joined South Downs College at Waterlooville. In 2005 she applied for a Nectar card, which she linked to the college.

Two points are usually awarded for every £1 spent, and Robinson netted 1,227,420 through a contract with catering wholesaler, Brakes.

The points were worth more than £6,000 and Robinson used them to do her weekly shop at Sainsbury’s, the court heard.

In 2008 she left the £38,000-a-year job and moved to Sparsholt College. There, she started another contract with Brakes, netting 452,516 Nectar points.

Worth around £2,500, the college had a policy that any gifts of £25 or more should be recorded, the court heard.

Sparsholt bosses confronted her in March 2010 while

she was already going through redundancy. She told them she was being framed, but later said the points were a personal gift from Brakes, which the firm denied.

Robinson, of St Birstan Gardens in Andover, netted 1,679,936 Nectar points over four years, equivalent to spending £839,968.

Judge Andrew Barnett adjourned her sentencing until Tuesday, August 30.