Shropshire fraudster given more time to pay back thousands she stole from village hall committee

Tracey Hills abused her position as chairman of Halfway House and Wattlesborough Village Hall to siphon more than £20,000 out of committee accounts between 2005 and 2011, which she blew on gambling.

She was jailed for 16 months and has since been released – but still owes £39,675.44 to the committee, the amount she was ordered to repay because of inflation at a Proceeds of Crime hearing.

The deadline for paying up was due in the middle of April but Judge Peter Barrie extended that by a further six months to October at a special hearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard Hills was hoping to cover the amount by selling a holiday home in Lanzarote to cover the bill, but the sale had been held up due to red tape.

Her solicitor Mrs Debra White said there was still a buyer interested in the property.

Hills, of Marche Lane, Halfway House, near Shrewsbury, was jailed for 16 months in the summer of 2013 after admitting four counts of theft and two counts of false accounting.