A woman named Laura Barnard embezzled nearly £63,000 from her employer to fund her gambling and cocaine addictions. This unlawful activity took place over a year, from August 2021 to August 2022, while she was working as a senior project manager at Thinkmoney.

Throughout her employment, Barnard developed a close relationship with her employer, described by her barrister as 'like family'. She was residing at Littler Avenue, Chorlton, and had previously worked as a project manager before being promoted to a senior role with an annual salary of £65,000.

At 39 years old, Barnard had the authority to perform test transactions of small amounts to check the functionality of new systems, with the obligation to return the funds.

She manipulated this process by disguising unauthorized transfers to her accounts as 'goodwill payments'. Her fraudulent actions were uncovered when the company noticed she was making payments while on holiday and outside of her working hours.

Even after being discovered, Barnard shamelessly continued to make payments to herself, completing a total of 517 transactions amounting to £62,793. She was ultimately sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position and concealing criminal property.

Judge Jennifer Lester-Ashworth stated that Barnard was 'not entitled to a penny' of the funds. The court was informed that she had been suspended pending an investigation before voluntarily resigning from her position.

Prosecutor Lisa Boocock described Barnard as a 'trusted member of staff', highlighting that she began transferring significantly larger sums than necessary, using 14 test accounts to channel money and falsely labeling these transactions as goodwill payments.

Boocock elaborated on Barnard's gambling and cocaine habits, stating she spent a substantial amount of the embezzled funds on these addictions. After her arrest, Barnard expressed intentions to repay the money, returning approximately £2,000, although the majority of the funds were never recovered. The court also learned that Barnard discovered her pregnancy shortly after her arrest.

Defending Barrister James Hudson mentioned that the birth of Barnard's son served as a significant stabilizing factor in her life, portraying her as 'genuinely remorseful for her offending against a company she considered family.'

Barnard received an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to perform 180 hours of unpaid work along with 15 rehabilitation days. Judge Lester-Ashworth acknowledged Barnard's efforts to tackle the underlying issues that led to her criminal behavior, stating, "You will not go to prison today."