The price of wanting to be beautiful
Manager stole £50,000 to fund treatments to ‘fit in’ at clinic
A COSMETIC clinic manager stole nearly £50,000 to pay for treatments so she could fit in with her ‘ beautiful’ work colleagues, a court heard.
Rebecca Le-Clercq bought antiwrinkle injections, fat-freezing and hydrafacial treatments, and posted the results on social media to make herself look good.
A judge heard the 36-year-old also spent the money on trips to five-star hotels and Center Parcs holidays, as well as riding lessons and clothes for her two children.
Her defence barrister said that she had suffered from ‘ imposter syndrome’ when she found herself surrounded by ‘ beautiful and confident women’ at work and felt pressure to look like them.
But Judge Robert Pawson told LeClercq that she was ‘entirely selfish’ and described some of her social media posts as her ‘cavorting around the place having fun’.
The mother-of-two was the practice manager for award-winning River Aesthetics, a private clinic in Bournemouth, offering ‘non- surgical facial rejuvenation and body- sculpting treatments’ such as lip fillers, jawline contouring and skin tightening.
The town’s crown court heard that instead of depositing payments into the beauty company’s bank account, Le-Clercq transferred them to her own between April 2022 and March last year.
She was caught when the clinic’s accountant notified the owner, Dr Victoria Manning, of a cash shortfall of £48,683.
Dr Manning approached Le-Clercq about the missing money and she claimed it was in a holding account due to an incorrect number and that the matter would be resolved.
But she then walked out of the building, leaving a resignation letter behind for Dr Manning.
Richard Tutt, prosecuting, said: ‘ Paying- in receipts given to Rebecca Le- Clercq had gone missing. Dr Manning began to suspect she was responsible for this shortfall.
‘Rebecca Le-Clercq admitted to taking the cash. She stated a number of personal reasons for doing so including mental health, her father’s death and the breakdown of her marriage.’ Amber
Atwill, in mitigation, said LeClercq felt she had needed to ‘look perfect’ after starting her job at the beauty clinic.
The barrister added: ‘She had imposter syndrome, surrounded by a luxury brand, beautiful, confident women, yet she did not feel worthy.
‘ It changed when she had money, she felt like she fitted in and she could post on social media. She started having treatments her colleagues were having.’ In court Le- Clercq, of Bournemouth, admitted one count of theft. Judge Pawson told her: ‘ You worked your way through £1,000 a week for a year and you have nothing to show for it other than a load of social media posts.
‘I don’t see a scintilla of remorse, I see someone who became addicted to that shallow, consumer culture and addicted to spending money on fripperies.’
He sentenced her to 14 months, suspended for two years, with a three- month curfew and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Pawson continued: ‘The only reason I’m doing that is
because of your position as a mother of two young children who need you.’ Le-Clercq has a 12-year-old son and an eight-yearold daughter.
When asked how much money Le-Clercq could pay back, the court heard she now receives more money a month in universal credit and her part-time job as an admin assistant then she did earning £1,900 a month working full-time at the clinic.
‘Not a scintilla of remorse’