Thief stole £23k from disability transport charity
BBCA thief who stole almost £23,000 from a charity which provides transport for disabled people has been given a suspended sentence.
Hayley Smith, 44, made fraudulent refunds to herself and stole daily takings of cash while working at a shop raising funds for Community Transport in Blyth, Northumberland, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The charity said the money was a "significant sum" which equated to 49 days of transport for 10 people.
Smith, from Blyth, who had a history of similar offending, admitted theft and fraud, to fund a gambling addiction. She was jailed for 27 months suspended for three years, after a judge said her "innocent" children did not deserve to lose their mother.
Smith worked at a furniture shop run by the charity in Blyth from October 2021 to November 2022, prosecutor Nick Murphy said.
'Everyone under suspicion'
She became the shop's only paid employee and was responsible for opening and closing the store, depositing the takings at a nearby bank and sending the end of day transaction record to bosses, the court heard.
Between April and November 2022, she made 25 refund payments to her own bank accounts after sending the daily log of transactions, the court heard, stealing £20,665.
She took a further £2,370 worth of cash from the shop over a three week period, the court heard.
When she was questioned by police she denied any wrong-doing, then failed to attend court for a trial, Murphy said.
In a statement read to the court, a charity spokesman said the money stolen was equivalent to its whole team working six days a week for a month.
The "significant sum", which had to be covered by reserves, would have covered the transport of one person for 298 days, the court heard.
All staff and volunteers also had the "unpleasant" experience of being initially under suspicion when the investigation was launched, the spokesman said.
The court heard Smith had 24 offences on her record, including multiple counts of theft and fraud by false representation when she "took advantage" of having access to a victim's credit card between 2007 and 2008.
In 2011 she was jailed for eight months for stealing £650 from a shop where she was working, Murphy said.
In mitigation for her latest thieving, Jamie Adams said Smith had a "long-standing" gambling addiction and she planned to repay the stolen funds with winnings, but "of course that never happens".
She was also a key carer for her children and elderly relatives, the court heard.
Unpaid work and curfew
Judge Tim Gittins said Smith was "in a position of trust" and "effectively stole from vulnerable members of society".
He said she used her knowledge of the charity shop's systems to commit and then "hide" her crimes.
The judge told Smith he acknowledged her gambling addiction but said she chose to put herself in a position where she could steal to fund her habit "rather than simply finding other employment that didn't put you in such a position of trust".
He said she was "frankly not thinking" of her children or those she was supposed to care for when she committed the crime, but the judge was "obliged" to consider them.
Gittins said Smith deserved to be jailed but he was "fully aware" of the impact of a parent's imprisonment on children, adding they were "innocent victims" and did "not deserve to lose their mother".
Smith was ordered to complete 175 hours unpaid work and comply with an electronically-monitored, night-time curfew for a year.
Separate proceedings will be held to determine whether Smith can repay any of the money.
