Charity nearly went bust as a result of the theft

A treasurer of a book charity who embezzled £62,000 to fund a gambling addiction has been jailed for 12 months.

TFN reported last month how Karen McCormack of Rutherglen stole the money from the South Glasgow Childcare Partnership Forum on 65 different occasions over 14 months when she was in charge of its account.

At the time the charity was unsure if it would be able to continue to operate after March this year but has since secured funding.

She pleaded guilty last month to embezzling the cash between April 2016 and June last year. Sheriff Johanna Johnston, jailed her for 12 months last week.

The court was told that McCormack was employed by the city council inspecting nurseries and volunteered with the forum, which provides free books to children to encourage families to read together.

When another volunteer requested a bank statement, she noticed that a large amount of money had been withdrawn by the accused for book events that had not happened.

Her lawyer Neil Kilcoyne, in mitigation, said McCormack had taken money for gambling but that “she had taken further sums in the hope she would win so that she could repay but obviously that didn’t occur.”