While gambling is a past time loved by many, it can also become a dangerous habit. Gambling is all about the thrill of risk, which many people love to participate in, especially in sports betting for the UK. Casinos and online casinos are favorites as well, all across the UK. However, it is imperative to be smart about your risks as well. Recently, a regular gambler of the UK found herself in a lot of debt after her gambling spiraled out of control.
Now, she has been jailed for stealing almost £360,000. Her name is Mary Booth. Over the course of a couple of years, Ms. Booth made payments to international delegates as well as charity employees. She did this while working as the Payroll Manager at the British Red Cross. However, suspicions arose, and soon after she was under investigation.
Mary Booth is a 56-year-old woman. She devised her plan after running into a large amount of debt from over gambling. Because she was the Payroll Manager, she cataloged who was paid, how much, and when. This enabled her to continue transferring large amount of money into her personal bank account. Obviously, the amount of money was larger than her regular salary, but it was also small enough to not raise eyebrows until a little while later. Even though Ms. Booth worked at the British Red Cross for 34 years, she still felt the need to steal from them because her debt had spiraled so quickly from unhealthy gambling habits. She reported this to the Paisley Sherriff Court, admitting to her crime.
She pleaded guilty at her hearing, admitting to stealing £359, 551.27 in order to pay off the debts accumulated from her gambling addiction. The crime reportedly began on November 1, 2008 and continued until August 31, 2015. Ms. Mary Booth was then sentenced to 27 months in prison. The Procurator Fiscal, Mrs. Laura Mundell added that, “Mary Booth took advantage of being in a position of trust and responsibility to embezzle cash on a large scale over a number of years.”
She also added that, “We take such criminality very seriously and will not stop at prosecution. Proceeds of Crime proceedings have now been commenced to ensure profits obtained through criminal conduct are confiscated from those who do not deserve them.” So, it looks like Ms. Mary Booth will end up without her money in the end, as well as in a jail cell for quite some time.
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