Jail for holiday park boss who cheated firm out of £13,500
PAYMENTS FOR LODGE HIRE DIVERTED TO HER OWN ACCOUNT
A DISHONEST holiday park manager swindled her bosses out of thousands by making bookings behind their backs to pocket the cash.
Sheena Palling, a mum of four with convictions for dishonesty offences, carried out the trickery at a luxury holiday venue at Overseal, near Ashby, over nine months, netting £13,582 from 41 transactions.
The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of her position at Ashby Woulds Lodges and Spa.
Tony Stanford, prosecuting, said Palling held the trusted position of manager, overseeing the day-to-day running of the business.
The holiday lodge bookings were handled by the Hoseasons agency, but Palling circumnavigated the system by changing the park’s Facebook account to display her own phone number and email address and included an option to make payments by PayPal that went directly into her own account.
Mr Stanford said: “She was offering discounted holiday lodges and customers thought it was cheaper because they were dealing directly with the park.” She made false booking numbers to cover her tracks.
Palling, of Stonydelph, Tamworth, unofficially let one lodge on a longterm basis and, when the dishonesty came to light, the disgruntled occupant caused £10,000 damage due to being evicted, said Mr Stanford.
The underhand dealings came to light in March last year when a customer spoke to another member of staff at the park to confirm payment details, and it was discovered cash was being paid privately to the defendant instead of handled via Hoseasons.
When confronted by the park’s owner, Palling owned up. She sent an email to her boss saying: “I’ve taken legal advice about the mess I’ve got myself into and I have noone to blame but myself.” The prosecutor said: “She offered to pay some money back but complained about having some wages withheld.”
She told police she was promised a bonus that never materialised and felt she was not being paid enough.
She said, in hindsight, she should have asked for a pay increase, that she had loved her job and deeply regretted her wrongdoing. Palling told officers she duped her employers to maintain the lifestyle she had before her husband lost his job.
The court heard that in 2010 she was given a 32-week suspended jail term for benefit fraud and, in 2012, was prosecuted for obtaining goods by deception and making false representation, for which she received a community order with supervision and ended up back in court a few months later for failing to comply.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Brown said: “You’ve had warnings from courts in the past and are back again. This is too serious for anything other than immediate custody.”
Priya Bakshi, mitigating, said Palling married in 1996 and endured a “volatile relationship.” “The strained relationship with her husband forced her to commit this offence, she was struggling to pay the bills and he’d lost his job, but was spending £100 a week on whisky and tobacco. They have two children and she has two from a previous relationship. To her credit, when confronted by her employer, she admitted full responsibility.”
The barrister added: “She has now obtained work at a care home and her employers are aware of her position.”
Palling was jailed for 12 months.