Building society embezzler spared jail
A building society manager who stole over £12,000 from customers has been allowed to walk free from court after telling a sheriff she needed to breastfeed her newborn baby.
A building society manager who stole over £12,000 from customers has been allowed to walk free from court after telling a sheriff she needed to breastfeed her newborn baby.
Sharon Grange, 30, embezzled £12,400 from clients of the Nationwide Building Society branch she was in charge of as she stole money for almost a year.
Grange - who started taking cash from her own till to pay off her personal debts - said sending her to prison would have a serious detrimental impact on her nine week old daughter.
The disgraced manager deliberately identified two client accounts which were rarely used so she could take money from them in the hope it would not be noticed.
She used that money to cover the sums she was taking from her own till at the Blairgowrie, Perthshire, branch of the Nationwide between 1st May 2015 and 2nd April 2016.
But Grange, from Dundee, was caught out during an audit and earlier at Perth Sheriff Court she admitted embezzling £12,400 while she was in a position of trust.
Solicitor John Boyle, defending, said: "She has a nine-week-old daughter and resides with her and her partner. It is her great concern, given she has a young daughter, that the court may be considering a custodial sentence.
"I would invite the court to impose a direct alternative to custody. Despite having a young child she is in a position to carry out unpaid work two days a week as family members will rally round to cover childcare.
"She is well aware her liberty is at risk and that causes significant concern - specifically for her daughter. She is feeding her daughter herself.
"I suggest justice is better served by having her at liberty to care for her young child and to make payment back to the Nationwide."
Sheriff Gillian Wade said: "This was a serious breach of trust and a substantial embezzlement of funds. It obviously spiraled beyond anything you could control.
"You took a significant amount of money from client accounts which meant those clients were left out of pocket. It is incredibly important that steps are taken as soon as possible to make repayment.
"The most difficult matter is how to deal with the punitive aspect. Your circumstances are such that imposition of a custodial sentence would impact significantly on your new born daughter and punish her as much as you."
She told Grange that custody was "appropriate" but instead imposed 200 hours unpaid work in the community. She also allowed her to pay compensation at £60 per week - meaning it will take four years to pay back the stolen cash.
The court was told that Grange had been in a previous relationship with a partner who had a gambling problem and she had been left with substantial debts as a result.
Fiscal depute Stuart Richardson told the court: "She got herself into an amount of debt she was unable to repay. The money she physically took was from her own cash till.
"That created a problem as they were checked periodically, so she identified two accounts which were loosely described as dormant and withdrew sums of money from these. She had to create a certain amount of false documentation." The court was told Grange was sacked when the con was discovered.