Embezzler escapes jail term
A cold- hearted thief ’ s actions have been branded “thoroughly despicable” after embezzling over £ 1000 from charity. Sharon Thomson of Girvan escaped a jail sentence after pocketing £ 1045.89 from an Ayrshire Cancer Support ( ACS) charity shop in Girvan. The 50- year- old was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work for pinching cash from the store on Dalrymple Street between March 4 and March 18 last year. Thomson began volunteering at the shop in 2016 as a retail assistant prior to taking on the role as volunteer manager and handling the shop’s banking. Ayr Sheriff Court heard ACS employees had noticed the banking came to a halt for a period of two weeks in March and sent a letter to Thomson asking for an explanation. She replied saying the money was in the shop in a bag, but upon carrying out a search the money failed to be discovered. The police were then contacted. Solicitor Gregor Forbes said Thomson pocketed the cash because ‘ she had been short on money.’ Mr Forbes said: “This is a serious matter. “It involves an element of a breach of trust. “She had been taking the money to pay her outgoings with the anticipation she would be able to pay it back.” Mr Forbes also highlighted that his client was a first time offender who also had a ‘ fairly substantial alcohol problem’. Sheriff Mhairi Mactaggart said: “You embezzled money from a charity and that is extremely serious. “And all be it you are a first time offender but that type of offence attains a custody sentence without any criticism.” Steering clear of putting Thomson behind bars, the Sheriff added: “Given everything, I’ve considered not to go down that route. “But as an alternative to that you will be made subject to a community payback order. “And you will have to make reparation to the community for what you’ve done.” Sandra McCall, Chief Executive of Ayrshire Cancer Support said: “Ayrshire Cancer Support operate ten charity shops throughout Ayrshire, the money raised from these shops support our transport service for people with a cancer diagnosis who need life saving treatment at hospital appointments. “It is thoroughly despicable that anyone should consider stealing from any charity. “We have robust systems in place to vet all our volunteers and similarly for accounting for any anomalies in income in each shop. “We will always act quickly to address any discrepancies that come to light and will always prosecute should we consider there is a case to answer. “We have a duty to our donors to ensure that their donations are safeguarded.’ Thomson pled guilty to embezzling £ 1045.89 of money from Ayrshire Cancer Support on Dalrymple Street in Girvan between March 4 and March 18 2017. She was sentenced to a community payback order in which she will be under supervision for 18 months.