A SOLICITORS' secretary who fiddled her firm's books to overpay her own husband by £75,000 dodged jail last week after a sheriff said she "hardly had any serious crimogenic needs".

Karen Humphries' job included paying financial sales advisors working for mortgage and investment brokers Solicitors Financial Services, based in Alloa.

The role included doling out and recording the commission due to members of the freelance sales team, which included her husband.

In July 2016 the company's annual accounts - expected to show a profit - suddenly swung into loss, and auditors were called in.

Checks showed that between February 2013 and July 2016, Humphries had overpaid her husband by a total of £75,000.

She was confronted and resigned, and police were called in and she told them: “That would be correct”.

She had originally been charged with embezzling over £106,000.

Ruariadh Ferguson, prosecuting, said: "Over the time Karen Humphries worked for SFS, she exclusively had responsibility for making payments to the financial advisors, amongst making other transactions.

"The offence was discovered as a result of the annual accounts being checked in July 2016. Despite SFS expecting to have generated a profit, the accounts showed a loss and an investigation was launched.

"It revealed that one financial advisor had been significantly overpaid. This was the husband of the accused. He was the only financial advisor to be overpaid."

The 47-year-old was arrested at her home in McAlpine Court, Tullibody.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard some £54,000 had since been repaid.

Advocate Tony Lenehan, defending, said the £75,000 represented commission on sales that "had not yet been booked", and was a result of Humphries "running ahead of herself".

He said she was "a lady hitherto held in high regard by all who knew her, who now finds herself in the shame of this situation".

Sheriff David Mackie told Humphries she had pled guilty to a serious offence "which undoubtedly merits a custodial sentence".

The visiting sheriff, however, said: "That's not going to happen today and I will explain why."

He said Humphries had no previous convictions, and "caring responsibilities" for her elderly parents.

He added: "There's some force in the submission made on your behalf that this was an offence which you developed - it was something that grew and you lost control of.

"But having started, it turned into a monster."

He sentenced Humphries to 300 hours of unpaid community work, ordered her to repay her former employers within 10 months the £21,000 outstanding in respect of the sum she admitted on indictment, and placed her under social work supervision for 12 months.

He said: "The supervision will not do you any harm - you hardly have any serious crimogenic needs, but there's a requirement for it because of the compensation element.

She still, however, faces a massive claim that dwarfs the sum she admitted embezzling.

The court heard her plea had triggered action under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The Crown is seeking a confiscation order under the Act for more than POUNDS 500,000 allegedly ill-gotten by Humphries.

The Proceedings of Crime action was continued until November 12th for Humphries' legal team to prepare rebuttals to the Crown's allegations that her criminal conducted netted such a large sum.