Shropshire netball official jailed for taking £50,000 of club funds during five years of fraud
The former treasurer of a Shropshire netball association who helped herself to an estimated £50,000 of club funds has been jailed.
Chartered accountant Hannah O'Neill took the cash while collecting club fees and paying bills over a five-year period.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday 38-year-old O'Neill sobbed in the dock as she was jailed for 20 months.
Judge Peter Barrie said that anyone in a professional position who was entrusted with other people's money and breached that trust must expect to go to prison.
O'Neill, of Station Road, Donnington, Telford, had admitted five specimen offences of fraud between 2011 and 2015 at an earlier hearing, but appeared at the court yesterday for sentencing.
An application was made for an inquiry under the Proceeds of Crime Act to determine O'Neill's criminal benefit and a confiscation hearing will be heard in March next year.
The court heard that it was estimated O'Neill had taken up to £50,000 belonging to the Shrewsbury and District Netball League.
Mr Philip Beardwell, prosecuting, said matters came to light after the new treasurer Karen Holliday found there was a £2,500 deficit in the accounts. He said that members were informed and O'Neill had been approached and admitted taking the money and promised that she would pay it back.
However, further investigation of the organisation's bank statements and an audit revealed that about £10,000 could not be accounted for from the previous financial year.
It was discovered that the defendant had stolen a similar amount of money in each of the previous years by transferring cash into her own account. The court heard that O'Neill had been the netball league's treasurer for a decade and during that time had full control over the bank account.
In interviews the defendant said she initially took money to pay her tax bill and had intended to pay the money back.
Miss Sarah Cooper, for O'Neill, said her client was sorry for her actions and had lost her career as an accountant following her conviction. She said that O'Neill had been facing debts and had both gambling and alcohol addictions.
