Group treasurer embezzled £10,000

Published 27 Jan 2010 10:20

A WOMAN who embezzled over £10,000 from the Friends of the ALLOA Centre has narrowly escaped being sent to prison.

Former group treasurer Lesley Talbot (44), appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court on Thursday and admitted taking the cash from the organisation that helps local adults with learning disabilities between 22 April 2008 and 11 February last year.

Fiscal depute Keri Marshall said there had been a funding drive for the Ochil Community Garden and it was agreed that when the £5000 they had raised came through it would be placed in the Friends of the ALLOA Centre bank account.

In January last year Talbot was asked to transfer funds from the ALLOA bank account to a newly set up Ochil Community Garden account. A cheque was eventually produced for the money however it was returned.

Old cheque book

When the accused was asked about this by the complainer she said it had been sent from an old cheque book and after she was asked further Talbot gave a name and mobile number of the person dealing with the bank account - the phone number turned out to be for an automated banking system.

The complainer eventually spoke to a member of the bank who advised her of the state of the account and the number of transactions that had occurred.

When confronted with the details of her embezzlement Talbot admitted to taking a total of £10,556.

Defence solicitor, Jim Savage, said his client had got behind in her rent and into financial difficulties where she became trapped in a spiral of debt.

At the same time her sister required stem cell treatment in Glasgow which Talbot helped her pay.

'Evil day'

Mr Savage added, "£10,000 is a lot of money but it was taken in £10s over a long period. She tried to put off the 'evil day' where she would be found out but it was always going to come."

The solicitor went on to say that Talbot was a first time offender who admitted her guilt at the first instance.

As a result of her actions she had lost her job and it had had a devastating affect on her life.

Mr Savage said that Talbot, who is now on benefits, could only afford to offer to repay what she had taken at a rate of £10 per fortnight.

Sheriff David Mackie told Talbot she had committed a gross breach of trust by taking from a charity that supported people in difficulty.

Sheriff Mackie sentenced Talbot, of Henderson Avenue, to carry out 240 hours of community service - the maximum available.

He went on to explain a custodial sentence was warranted but due to the summary nature of the case the maximum sentence he could impose would be one year in jail.

Short term prisoners only serve half of their sentence and Talbot was appearing as a first time offender which would shorten the sentence further.

Sheriff Mackie said in this case community service was the most severe option open to him.

A spokesperson for Friends of the ALLOA Centre said they had now revised their operating procedures and have fail safe procedures to ensure that such an incident cannot happen again.

The spokesperson added that they were "actively investigating" the possibility of having the money reimbursed.

Difficult time

She went on, "We are also very grateful for the advice and guidance provided by Clackmannanshire Council's Internal Audit Section during this difficult time.

"Over the years, Friends of the Alloa Centre has been well supported by people in the community, local businesses and external funders.

"The committee deeply regrets that the monies raised as a result of the hard work of the members and generosity of our supporters was fraudulently misappropriated by a trusted member of our committee."

Following council support the Ochil Community Garden was established in Menstrie and is proving to be very popular with the clients of adult day services.

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