Judge hits out after manager avoids jail over charity thefts

Sandra Oldham, 48, used the online account of a domestic violence charity to buy two Wii Fit games consoles, which she gave as Christmas presents, as well as transferring money into her own account, a court heard.

But a judge told Oldham he was unable to jail her for the crimes

because she had been told by magistrates at an earlier hearing to expect a community order.

Sentencing Oldham, of Skipton, to a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, the Recorder of Bradford Judge James Stewart QC said: "You have pleaded guilty to the theft of over 15,000 from your employers Craven Domestic Violence Service, a charity set up to assist the most vulnerable in our society.

"You had placed upon you a high degree of trust as the office manager. You abused that trust for two years."

Judge Stewart said he would ordinarily send someone who had acted so shamefully straight to prison.

"The situation in your case is complicated. I find the whole situation extremely unsatisfactory. This sort of thing should not happen. If one bench of magistrates creates a legitimate expectation it should retain the case and not pass it on to a second bench.

"Had this been an ordinary committal for me I would have sent you to prison end of story. Your dishonesty falls well within the branch of custodial sentence.

"However, magistrates appear to have come to a conclusion this was a case for a community order. I feel bound by the expectation they created in your mind."

Oldham pleaded guilty in May to charges of theft by an employee and fraud.

Robin Frieze, mitigating, said Oldham had children and an elderly mother to look after and she had paid back all the money she stole.