A law-firm worker with a secret gambling addiction stole thousands of pounds from her employers which put the company’s future in jeopardy.

© Spink took £4,650 form her legal-firm company and spent it on gambling. (pic by Abode Stock)

Jenny Spink worked as a legal cashier for Pudsey Legal in Pudsey, which specialises in family and civil law, but then handed in her notice in April of last year after directors began asking her for financial information which Spink was “reluctant” to provide, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The 37-year-old’s job had been to oversee financial payments to the firm and keep records, having started there in March 2020. After Spink’s sudden departure, workers began to spot errors and anomalies in the accounts, prosecutor Emma Handley said.

It was later found that £4,650 had been moved to Spink’s account. She admitted taking the money over an 11-month period during an interview with police on June 27 last year. She confessed that she had a secret gambling addiction and she was “struggling to pay for everyday things”.

Spink, of Glenlow Road, Dewsbury, has no previous convictions and admitted fraud by abuse of position.

In a victim impact statement from the firm’s partners, they said her actions could destroy their reputation, and lead to sanctions being placed on them which could eventually lead to closure and job losses.

The statement, outlined to the court by Miss Handley, read: “Her actions in taking the money and covering up her crime have left our accounts in a poor state. We have had to unravel her deception ourselves.

“We have had to personally replace the money taken by Jenny. We have all suffered stress and sleepless nights due to Jenny’s actions. She abused a position of trust. She was well aware of what she was doing.”

Mitigating, Theresa Clark said: “She was always going to be caught because it clearly showed the money had been transferred to her. As we’ve heard many times before, as a gambling addict she thought she would be able to repay the money.

“She was horrified when she heard that actual figure she had spent on gambling, it was in excess of £24,000. She only recently told her husband about it. She is overwhelmed with shame. She was of previous good character and the remorse and shame is all consuming.”

She said that Spink had not gambled since her arrest and intends to seek help. A probation report into her behaviour suggested she had been able to keep her compulsions under control but issues in her life, including her father’s deteriorating health, had caused her to spiral.

Judge Christopher Batty told Spink: “You have well and truly lost your good character now, and lost it in a significant way because the very nature of that firm requires that trust.

“You were liked and popular but you ended up putting your needs above everybody else.

“For a period of 11 months you took just short of £5,000 from them. The impact on them you knew full well. It’s had a knock-on effect and caused reputational damage.”

He gave her a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, but ordered her to repay the money she owes at £150 a month. She was also given 175 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days.