A woman who stole nearly £20,000 from a community owned shop has been spared jail.
Elaine Newton who was manageress for ten years at the Uig Community Shop on the west coast of Lewis was told she committed a “serious breach of trust” when sentenced at Stornoway Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Valerie Johnston imposed a community payback order, instructing her to undertake 240 hours of unpaid community service work within the next six months.
The sheriff warned she faced going to prison if she failed to complete the stipulated hours.
Embezzler spared jail after stealing nearly £20,000 from community shop
9 September 2016
Newton sold her home in Reef, Uig, to repay the money and now lives on the mainland where she will carry out the community work.
She previously pleaded guilty to taking nearly £11,524 from the shop’s funds over a six month period between February and August 2014.
Newton also admitted stealing £8,000 in 2013 from the Uig Development Trust, the parent body which established and runs the store.
Procurator fiscal, Karen Smith, told the court Newton confessed to the offences before they were discovered.
Ms Smith revealed Newton phoned the shop’s accountant in December 2014 when he was finalising its annual accounts.
Later, Newton told the chairman of the community venture she had not “used the money for herself but to pay for a solicitor and for barrister fees,” said the fiscal.
It had nothing to do with her husband -
Newton was “suspended on full pay at that point and the matter was reported to police,” added the fiscal.
She diverted a £8,000 deposit meant for a jet wash system ordered for the shop’s forecourt into her own personal bank account.
Sums of £700 or £800 were embezzled under the guise of travel expenses, said the fiscal.
Lawyer, Ken Macdonald, said Newton apologies for “what she has done.”
“Her whole life has been ruined by this and it is her own fault -
“Everyone in Uig was completely shocked” when her actions emerged, he said.
He told the sheriff Newton admitted the theft “from the word go. She brought it out in the open. She has repaid the full sum by the sale of her house.”
Newton has “had to leave the island she loved and wanted to stay for the rest of her life.”
The solicitor highlighted she was a successful manageress, delivering a funding package for shop upgrades and increasing turnover.
Sheriff Valerie Johnston stated: “Embezzlement is a serious breach of trust particularly on an island with communities relying so much on trust.”
Newton’s previously clean record, age, full restitution of the stolen money and her confession in advance were factors in deciding not to send her to jail, indicated the sheriff.