Embezzler given more time to repay stolen money 14/10/11
A woman who stole £22,000 from a community gala event has avoided jail and been given extra time to repay the outstanding cash.
Karen Spruce, 57, of Mill Street, Stornoway, had been previously convicted of embezzling £22,000 which plunged the annual festival in Wick, where she formerly lived, into serious financial chaos.
Spruce had failed to repay the outstanding sum of £9,100 to the Wick Town Improvements Association (WTIA). She had been treasurer of the voluntary body which staged the annual gala and reinvested the proceeds into community amenities.
She now lives in the Western Isles and, earlier this year, emerged as the president of the Lews Castle College’s Student Union which is raising money for local charities.
Spruce retained her freedom after promising to pay back the money within 18 months when sentenced at Wick Sheriff Court in June last year.
Spruce was placed on probation to include 240 hours of unpaid work for the theft which took place over three years, between April 2005 and June 2008.
The court had been told she repeatedly lied to the group to hide her deceit.
The WTIA collapsed from the resulting massive financial crisis and needs to wait for Spruce to repay all the money she took before being wound up.
At that time the debt was £9,500 and she has only managed to repaid £400, said her lawyer yesterday.
With the debt deadline looming, Spruce has no way of paying off the money she owes and needs more time Stornoway Sheriff Court was told this week.
Solicitor Ken Macdonald told sheriff David Sutherland that Spruce “was very anxious your Lordship may send her to prison.”
He highlighted the repayment term was set when Spruce was earning a wage but was later sacked from her job with Western Isles Council after her dishonesty came to light and has been unable to find alternative employment on Lewis..
He stressed: “Whatever happens, it is her intention to try and repay this sum of money.”
She was prepared to seek work on the mainland as she cannot get work locally, he said.