Woman avoids jail after school embezzlement

Administrative assistant took more than £5,000

A woman embezzled more than £5,000 from a Glenrothes primary school to fund an online gambling addiction.

Ann Melville appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and was ordered to perform 180 hours of unpaid work within six months.

The 50-year-old admitted taking the money from a bank account belonging to Southwood Primary School between August 2016 and June 2017.

The court was told the former administrative assistant had been employed at the school for more than 17 years. She began taking the money from the account after developing a gambling addiction but kept a note of the stolen funds as she hoped to pay it all back.

Defence solicitor David Bell said: “She has self-excluded from the websites and has tried counselling. She hasn’t returned to gambling. She intended to pay back the money taken from the school bank account and seemed to have kept a record of what she was taking.”

Melville came clean during a financial audit at the school and admitted what she had been doing before being caught.

Mr Bell added that his client was “ashamed” of what she had done and had had to resign from her role at the school. She took a total of £5,771.75 but had repaid the amount in full.

She wrote a cheque to the school shortly after the deception was discovered with a note apologising for “all the trouble I’ve caused”.

Sheriff Alistair Thornton said: “Any offence of this nature involving embezzlement of a four-figure sum when in a position of trust means the court must consider a custodial disposal.”

He said, however, that Melville’s “considerable remorse” and the fact she had paid the money back in full convinced him there was an alternative. He imposed a community payback order with unpaid work.