Council worker banked £74k which should have gone to the elderly and disabled
TWO-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE OVER SHOCKING BETRAYAL OF TRUST
A FORMER financial assistant at Nottinghamshire County Council stole almost £75,000 of taxpayers’ money which was meant for the most vulnerable members of society.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how mum-of-one Sinead Johnson moved cash intended for the elderly and disabled into her own bank accounts 148 times over a four-anda-half-year period.
The 41-year-old’s actions left her colleagues feeling “shocked and betrayed” and while an internal investigation was carried out at County Hall many felt they too were under suspicion, the prosecution said. And although the defendant took the cash for everyday items and not to fund a lavish lifestyle, the crime was so serious she was sent to prison.
Jailing Johnson for two years, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said: “One only has to look at the city council now to realise that every misdirected payment will have an effect.
“No doubt you convinced yourself you would pay it all back one day. £74,000 later I hope you realise that is absolutely impossible.
“Not to tell your [current] employer about this I understand from a human perspective, but from a common sense perspective you are simply lying to yourself.
“Your colleagues could not believe you betrayed the trust of the people you were there to help. And it does not matter if you did or did not live a lavish lifestyle with the money because the people you stole from needed it a million times more than you did.”
Almas Ben-aribia, prosecuting, said Johnson, of Cotgrave, worked in the adult and social care team at the county council from 2005 until the matter came to light in late 2022.
She said her role included distributing taxpayers’ money to the elderly and disabled and when they either died or went into fulltime social care, money was returned to the council.
But instead of paying that cash into the relevant bank accounts, she paid it into hers.
Miss Ben-aribia said: “There were 148 separate payments from 61 different social services users.
“It was uncovered by a different staff member and when matters came to light many felt shocked and betrayed by her actions and what made this more shocking is that she did it in the full knowledge of the strains of the social care budget.”
Johnson, of Ring Leas, pleaded guilty to fraud and has no previous convictions of any kind.
Lauren Fisher, her barrister, said her client took the cash to pay for everyday items for herself and the defendant’s daughter.
She said: “Miss Johnson made a catastrophic mistake, one she made over and over again for a period of time and she cannot simply airbrush that mistake.
“But all she has done since is her level best to move on and show her remorse and better herself.”
Asked by the judge why her client has not told her new employer about the court proceedings, Miss Fisher replied: “It seems to be borne out of fear, it is employment she enjoys. She knows that members of the press are in court and this will end up in the newspapers.”
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, which could see the defendant stripped of any cash or assets she still has, will take place later this year.