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Gloucestershire Business News

Gloucester social club staff go without pay after £12,000 theft by colleague

Eight members of staff at a Gloucester social club had to go without pay for two months last year because dishonest colleague Kelly Blackburn stole more than £12,000 from the takings, a court heard on Monday (November 8).

Mum of two Blackburn, 39, of Elderwood Way, Tuffley, was working as office administrator at the nearby Windsor Drive Social Club when she took the money gradually over a two year period because she was struggling with her own finances, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

She pleaded guilty to theft as an employee between April 2018 and March 2020 and was sentenced to an 18 month community order with a requirement to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Blackburn was also ordered to attend 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay £1,000 compensation to the club.

Appearing before the Cirencester court via video link from Gloucester, Blackburn, wearing a blue coat and poppy brooch and with her long straight black hair parted in the centre, was in a state of distress and crying for much of the hearing.

She dabbed a tissue to her eyes repeatedly as prosecutor Ieuan Callaghan told how she had pocketed bar and slot machine takings from the club at Tuffley Community Centre.

Blackburn had been employed from 2014 as a bartender and later became administrator in 2016, he said. Her job was to look after the club finances, record the bar takings, and account for the profits of the slot machines.

She was also required to pay the staff and then bank the rest of the money. She reported once a month to the club treasurer Phil Hunt on how the finances were going.

Initially, said the prosecutor, Blackburn was a very good employee, and the accounts were well kept. But as the summer of 2019 progressed her attitude changed.

Mr Callaghan said: "It became more difficult to get her to do things such as provide details of the profits of the machines or get her to assist with preparation of the annual accounts."

"In March 2020, as lockdown loomed over the country, there was a meeting on March 23rd and she told the treasurer there was £10,000 in the account to pay staff furlough money until the end of April when a grant would be received from the Government.

"But the payments were unsuccessful and direct debits were bouncing back. It turned out there was only £3,000 in the bank account.

"Money had to be transferred to cover the shortfall.

"Mr Hunt's partner Carol Taylor offered to review the accounts. In doing so she discovered shortfalls and evidence of false accounting.

"The money being paid into the bank account was less than recorded in the ledger and takings book. The profits of the slot machines were also mis-recorded or did not appear at all. The till receipts were largely correct, but the figures recorded in the ledger did not add up to the right totals. On most occasions they were a couple of hundred pounds short.

"In December it was noted that four weeks' takings were never recorded as being banked. The balance paperwork she completed for the club committee showed the balance was significantly more than what was in the accounts.

"In total, between April 2018 and March 2020, amounts of £100-£200 regularly went missing from the weekly takings and there were several occasions when large amounts were not banked - £1,683-61, then £1,684.09, then £1,146-41.

"In total the sum said to be missing was £12,117-30.

"Efforts were made to arrange a meeting with her but it never came to pass. Formal disciplinary proceedings were initiated but she never attended. Her employment was then terminated for gross misconduct."

Treasurer Mr Hunt said in a statement that Blackburn had assured him on 12th March 2020 that there was £9,286-13 in the bank - enough to meet staff wages as the pandemic lockdown took effect.

"Based on this, we knew we could pay the staff and our outstanding bills through to when the furlough money would become available," he stated.

"But we were then left in the embarrassing position of not being able to pay any of the eight staff we employed. They had to wait from March 16th to 6th May until they had any pay. It was only the Government Covid support grant of £10,000 that enabled us to stay in business. "

The prosecutor said Blackburn was interviewed by police on 9th November 2020 and she admitted she had 'borrowed little bits' with the intention of paying it back.

Blackburn was of previous good character with no previous convictions of any kind, Mr Callaghan said: "This was a breach of a high degree of trust and responsibility."

He added: "I understand £5,000 has been recovered by the club from an insurance claim.

"Compensation of £7117.30 is sought from the defendant as well as prosecution costs of £425."

Blackburn was not legally represented in court and said she did not want an adjournment to consult a lawyer.

The judge, Recorder Barry Trevaskis, read to her the contents of a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation service after they had interviewed her.

It said she fully admitted theft although she did not think she had taken as much as the Crown claimed.

"You said you had been struggling financially and didn't feel able to ask your husband to help you out," said the Recorder. "You were taking money on a Friday and putting it back on a Monday when you got paid. However, that got out of control, and it soon came about that you were not able to put the money back, having 'borrowed' it.

"You say you always intended to pay the money back, but the situation really got out of hand.

"You were not spending the money on a lavish lifestyle. It was basically going on family expenses like food. You said you were embarrassed about your financial situation and you didn't discuss it with anyone and you had not really thought about the impact of your actions on the social club company or your family.

"You were basically focused on the need to have money in order to provide for your family.

"The report tells me you and your husband have lived in a rented property for the last nine years. You are not currently employed. You would like to get back into work as soon as possible although you are concerned that having to disclose this conviction will make that more difficult.

"You are on Universal Credit and struggling on that amount. Your husband's income is variable. You have got various debts - an overdraft and a couple of credit cards and you have not been able to keep up the minimum payments, so you are having to deal with collection agencies over that.

"You and your husband have been together for 16 years and married for three years and you have two children. You say your physical health is not a cause for concern, but you have become very upset and distressed about this matter and the consequences of it. You have been advised to see your GP."

Recorder Trevaskis asked Blackburn if she wanted to say anything to him but she said she did not.

Recorder Trevaskis said: "I can see you are upset and I can see you are remorseful for what you did."

He said he felt able to pass a community sentence on her in view of her good character, 'evident remorse,' no evidence of lavish lifestyle, and evidence of mental health issues.

in view of her financial situation it would be unreasonable to order her to pay full compensation or costs, he said. He ordered her to pay £1,000 back to the club by instalments and also to pay an £85 victim surcharge.

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