Church cash embezzler is spared prison
Sheriff Celia Sanderson told Rosemary Reid, 56, what she had done was "unforgivable" and that offences such as this "almost always attracted a custodial sentence".
However the sheriff noted Reid, a first offender, had been described by a social worker as having a low risk of re-offending and instead ordered her to carry out 240 hours of community service.
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Hide AdThe court heard an investigation was carried out into church accounts irregularities and Reid admitted to police paying a number of cheques into her own account over a period of three years.
Reid, of Redhall Gardens, Edinburgh, admitted embezzling 34,100 from the Kingsknowe Road North church, between 1 June, 2006, and 31 July last year.
Defence agent Dianne Moore said: "Her parents became sick and she had to care for them, she had building work done and she owed them 19,000. In desperation and stupidity she took the money."