Accused claimed extra hours to cover debt

A childcare worker falsified time sheets to pocket extra cash but dodged a rap after bosses discovered she was in debt.

Nicola Fish claimed extra shift hours to boost her earnings at Cairellot Nursery in Bishopton.

She was hauled in front of a Scottish Social Services Council disciplinary (SSSC) panel after her scam was uncovered.

But the watchdog refused to punish her after hearing she was struggling for money.

A tribunal report stated: “The panel had no choice but to accept that you submitted false timesheets over a number of months.

“These related to an extra hour for a few days a month amounting in total to 34.5 hours in a period of six months and mounting to £185.60.

“The panel had no choice but to accept this could be seen as a pattern of behaviour which would be an aggravating factor.

“The panel did not consider that your behaviour demonstrated a sophisticated process of concealment in that, although you submitted the false time sheets, you failed to match this with diary entries.”

Fish started working at the centre in the village’s Greenock Road three years ago.

Less than 12 months later she started scamming cash from bosses.

Staff conducted a probe into the missing money and flagged it up to the SSSC.

They gave evidence against Fish during a three-day hearing into her fitness to practice in Dundee last month.

Fish was found to have trousered the cash between February and July 2016.

She did not travel for the showdown – but claimed she had been suffering from “significant debt problems”.

The report added: “Your personal statement indicated you had engaged with SSSC at a very early stage.

“You admitted the allegations and took responsibility for your conduct.

“You accepted your culpability in the clearest terms.

“You clearly indicated you had learnt from the experience.

“You clearly stated that you would act differently were the situation to arise in the future and demonstrated how you would act differently.

“You also recognised that you had betrayed the trust of your employer and manager, in particular, who had supported you in the past.”

Nursery bosses told the SSSC that Fish’s working practise had been “exemplary” and they had lost a “good worker” since she left the firm.

Watchdog hearings have the power to suspend and strike off staff and bar them from working in the industry.

Chiefs took no punitive action after the money was paid back.