Fraudster falls ill on day she is due in court

A Scotland Yard spokesman said McCabe - described by former colleagues as a woman who could "teach the KGB a thing or two" - would appear before magistrates today for breach of bail.

More than 30 former teachers and pupils - the source of the "Saddam Hussein in a skirt" description - had turned up at London’s Southwark Crown Court to see her sentenced. When she did not arrive, Judge Christopher Elwen issued a warrant for her arrest.

But it emerged later that, rather than going on the run, McCabe had simply stayed at her detached home in Sidcup, Kent. Three hours after the court hearing, an ambulance was called to the house and paramedics went inside carrying oxygen.

Ten minutes later, McCabe was seen getting into the ambulance of her own accord accompanied by a younger man believed to be a lodger. It was the second time in two days that she had been admitted to hospital complaining of chest pains.

The day before the sentencing, she was due to meet her lawyers but instead booked herself into hospital. On that occasion she discharged herself before test results were completed.

McCabe spent 15 years as a nun with the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul before deciding to become a teacher. In 1989, she joined the 1,100-pupil state-funded Roman Catholic St John Rigby College in West Wickham, south London, and became principal in 1991.

She later embarked on a five-year spending spree, splashing out on sunshine holidays, luxury cars, designer clothes and trips on the Orient Express while pupils were left without books or heating.

Described by colleagues as a "despot", she ran a tyrannical regime which saw 26 teachers leave in a single year and children forced to share their school with rats. Former teachers infuriated by her methods suggested she was "someone who could teach the KGB a thing or two".

During her trial in July, the court heard her spending habits included a display of greed that "would have made Imelda Marcos proud".

McCabe’s love of footwear alone saw her run up bills of 7,000. Between 18 December 1994 and 4 September 1999, McCabe bought no fewer than 90 pairs of shoes, costing a total of 7,278.

She also used school funds for Gucci jewellery, fine restaurants, West End theatre seats - and she took luxury holidays in Malta. Massive amounts were frittered away on furniture, electrical goods, designer clothes and cosmetics, while gifts were lavished on relatives and friends.

She spent 1,500 on the best seats and champagne receptions for musicals such as Saturday Night Fever and Phantom Of The Opera.

McCabe also spent 500 on dental treatment, 1,500 on just two lavish visits to the Monte Carlo restaurant in Sevenoaks, Kent, and another 2,000 on a gold and diamond bracelet for her mother.

Years of her credit card sprees left the school lurching from one financial crisis to another, with a library full of empty shelves and teachers and pupils having to clean their own classrooms.

McCabe even tried to blame an innocent co-defendant for the missing money. She also claimed payments to her were to reimburse her for boosting school funds with her own cash.

After yesterday’s hearing, one former teacher, who asked not to be named, said: "It is very upsetting that she is not here but I am not surprised. She should never have been given bail. She is a coward."

Former pupils said the school had literally been allowed to go to the rats. Kathryn Jones, 17, from Crawley, Sussex, said: "Once we were having a sex education lesson in the drama theatre next to the canteen and a rat ran across the floor. Even the teachers were scared of her. She was a very overpowering woman."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said last night that the bench warrant initially issued by the court had been withdrawn later. The court then imposed bail conditions on McCabe, who had previously been remanded on unconditional bail. It meant that if treatment or observation was not required she was to be remanded in custody.

At about 7:40pm last night, McCabe was discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and was then arrested for breach of bail. She was taken to Plumstead police station and is expected to be brought before Greenwich Magistrates Court today for the breach of bail.

It was understood she was expected to be remanded in custody to go the Crown Court next week.

Russell Mellor, leader of Bromley Council, which discovered her crimes during an audit, accused McCabe of abusing her position to embellish her own lifestyle and draining college funds and depriving pupils, parents and staff of resources.