I've been so stupid, im scared to death

[Scaredashell13]

Please don't judge, I've made a horrendously stupid mistake and im so scared what's going to happen to me and my two children.
A couple of years ago I had a breakdown and started gambling again (I started gambling after my 2nd dc was born but stopped after a year with help). A long story short, in the space of 9 months I stole approx 36k from my employer who happens to be a local authority. They found out and I was subsequently sacked. I admitted everything and provided all evidence they requested such as bank statements etc. I have now registered with Gamban and Gamcare, my Drs have increased my medication which helped me get out of the dark place I was in. I considered suicide almost daily but my two children are the only reason i'm here. I have since worked on myself and have a new job and doing well....until today. I came home to a court summons in the post with a court date just after Christmas. This will be the first hearing and i'm praying to God I'm not sent into custody. I am absolutely petrified and have been sick with the thought of not being with my children (age 12 and 15). I'm so scared. I dont have any family, I was raised in the care system. I dont have any friends I can confide in, and im a single parent. What do I tell my children, how do I tell my children? I could face a prison sentence up to 10 years. I have reached out to a solicitor today and hoping they'll contact me tomorrow. I feel like im already slipping back into that dark place. Im so stupid and I wish I could turn back time. I just want to hug my children and never let go.

I've started to pay it back, albeit it will take a while and obviously if I'm sent to Prison it'll be on hold. I've also started the process of requesting the Gambling companies to return the funds directly to the local authority as there are significant issues with their safer gambling procedures. That part is very long winded but I'm hopeful on that, fingers crossed.

How much have you paid back, so far?

You want the gambling companies to return the money that you stole so you don’t have to??

Oh boy…

Are all the posters who are appalled at op having any consequences for this also of the opinion that no one should have any consequences for criminal actions or is it only single mums who should be able to break the law and do as they like?
if someone told me I could steal nigh on £50k and they’d be no consequences other than pay it back at £100 a month over 49
years? Why wouldn’t you!

You didn't start paying it back until after you started this thread on 3rd December which is when you received the Court summons.

Between 3rd December and today you have gone back through your bank statements and realised it's an actual £11,000 more than you had first calculated.

Sadly its 47k. A forensic accountant is going through my accounts. The other sum which the local authority cant evidence 31k was spent for work purposes but as I didnt reconcile the payments, they cant/wont account for it being spent for work (if that makes any sense). So looks like I'll be looking at the whole amount of 78k as I cant evidence the work spend either

Surely there must be evidence of all the “work
payments” what’s the references on the account? Where did the money go to?

No one is saying that, but when Huw Edwards is given a suspended sentence for viewing and soliciting child abuse images, it can't take much imagination to understand why people are suggesting the sole carer of two young children should be offered some sort of restorative justice. She suffers from an addiction, knows she has to repay what she has stolen, and probably much more, and deserves the chance to get her life in order for her own sake and her children's sakes, who would be the ones most damaged by a custodial sentence in this case.

OP, you did wrong, as you know, but you were in a very dark place and if you were raised in the care system, you've not had an easy time of things in life; a shit hand, quite likely. You've owned up, you're taking consequences, you're repaying. You didn't kill or abuse anyone. And yeah, obviously it's not an excuse for theft, but some of these gambling outlets really do exploit all human weakness and if we really cared about protecting society from the potential consequences of gambling, we'd find this an issue too.

I wish you well.

I agree

A pretty big ‘mistake’! This was public money and a lot of it.

Yep - all those people saying she must be punished by going to jail are unbelievable tbh.

You’ve owned up and pleaded guilty. I’d push for clarification on the extra money they can account for - you really don’t need the total rising. I wish you all the best of luck, no good will come of putting you in prison and your children most definitely need their mother.

Yes, correct. I requested an invoice to be sent to me so I could set up the monthly repayments, which has been done. Obviously i didnt realise it was as much as it was until I received the prosecution file which contained all my bank statements.

And yeah, I can't see what the public interest would be in imprisoning you either.

How can you “not evidence” £31k of work expenditure? There has to be some documentation, if it was paid for legitimate expenses.
You actually stolen £78k, haven’t you?

I cant evidence it was for work purposes as I dont work there no more and have no access to find the evidence. My solicitor will be dealing with that but their opinion is that as the amount doesnt change the category of harm etc then its not an issues. However, it is an issue because that's a lot more to repay over time, especially when thr local authority could prove it was genuine purchases if they really wanted to.

So, this "extra" money that you say was for work purchases went into your personal account? And then, you claim, that you used this money from your personal account to pay for work purchases? Would you not be able to show that deductions from your account or expenses on your credit card went to suppliers for your work (which would generally be different than your normal purchases)?

How much have you managed to pay back?

No, I want them to ensure they act on their own safety gambling measures and when problem gamblers like I was, have accounts raised as a concern (on numerous occassions) that they take action to prevent any further harm. I am and will be repaying what I stole, thats not a debate. The question i asked was about my children, not the offence.

Well quite. I know who I would rather have out on the streets and it isn’t Huw Edwards.

Has your solicitor indicated a prison sentences is likely? I think as much as possible produce your own evidence of what was spent on gambling and what wasn’t. The more transparent you can be the better, and don’t rely on your barrister or anyone else to do that for you. There should be a POCA hearing after your plea which will determine how much you will have to pay back. They might start at 78k but the figure should settle at what is evidenced and recoverable. Gather all your evidence. The prosecution have to evidence the other 31k as well, they can’t just say it’s that. But your legal team must challenge it.

Your efforts to recoup the money from
the betting companies is good, contact with gambling support orgs also helps evidence your addition and efforts to recover. Well done for trying to put things right. Make sure your legal team have POCA experience and be in them to make sure they bring this figure down.

Yes, it’s quite obvious everyone is already aware of that.

If you don’t want to or can’t offer any constructive advice to help the OP then there’s no point in posting.

No, the extra 31k was spent directly on work purposes and never went anywhere near my account.

🙄 it really would be much easier on my part to admit to the whole amount, however, I've admitted to what I stole

FYI gambling companies rarely return the money so do t anticipate a good outcome, but worth trying if you have evidence of addiction and poor safeguarding on their part.