The former finance chief of the Apex Hotel in Dundee who embezzled almost £26,000 from her employer has avoided the prison sentence she believed had been inevitable.
Sheriff Richard Davidson told Andrea Law (41) she was ”singularly unsuited” for a term behind bars.
Law, of East Links Place, previously admitted that between May 1 2007 and September 30 2010 she embezzled a total of £25,899 from the hotel while overseeing accounts and cash flow.
She was remanded in custody at her own request after her solicitor told the court she felt a prison term was ”inevitable” and she wanted to start that ”as soon as possible”.
On Thursday, depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie said: ”She had full responsibility for all money transactions. Part of her job involved putting refunds into customer bank accounts.
”Information received by Tayside Police in September 2010 resulted in the possibility of the accused having been involved in fraudulent activity.
”Further investigation discovered irregularities with transactions which the accused had carried out at work. Refunds were credited to six credit cards.”
William Boyle, defending, said: ”She bears her guilt very heavily. She’s working as a cleaner now and has held the job for a year.
”This situation has had an effect on her children, one of whom had childhood meningitis which left her requiring a lot of care.”
Sheriff Richard Davidson said: ”She strikes me as being singularly unsuited for a custodial sentence.”
He understood the previous sheriff was taken aback by her proposal to go to jail, but he said: ”That’s the wrong way to go.
”The reality is, this was fraud perpetrated by you. I’ve heard about your personal circumstances and it appears you’ve cracked under the pressure.”
He said she has had ”all sorts of pressures from her family and has given into these pressures.”
He continued: ”It’s very difficult not to have a degree of sympathy but the bottom line is she committed an offence. The reality is this was fraud perpetrated by you.
”It was carefully thought out and there was a lot of premeditation over a long period of time.”
He ordered Law, who runs the disability sport group Dundee Boccia Club, to complete 160 hours of community service.