A gambling addict who stole tens of thousands of pounds from her close friend’s shop has been spared a jail sentence.
Patricia Macdonald took cash and precious items of stock while working at Kim Alexandra’s Castle Jewellers.
She was originally accused of embezzling £102,000 from the business over an 18-month period.
But the mother-of-three admitted taking a reduced amount of £35,000 because of the difficulties in establishing exactly how much jewellery she had stolen.
A sheriff described her actions as a “gross breach of trust”.
And last night Ms Alexandra said she had never even received an apology from her former pal and that she should have gone to prison.
The court had previously heard that 52-year-old Macdonald was hired on November 24, 2010 and was caught out after Ms Alexandra set up a CCTV camera in the shop in Nairn’s High Street and monitored it from her base in Forres.
Discrepancies first emerged when an audit showed a £16,993 shortfall up to June 2012, but Ms Alexandra refused to believe her friend was to blame.
Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said that instead she “effectively sacked” another member of staff in October 2012, for alleging that Macdonald had been stealing, because she thought she was being malicious.
Macdonald was later caught on camera taking cash from the safe and putting it in her purse, along with items of stock.
On one occasion, she asked her friend for a £50 wages advance – but took £100.
And in another incident, she enjoyed lunch with her boss and another member of staff, only to take £150 from the safe when they both left the office briefly.
The court heard a police raid on her home uncovered some jewellery but pieces worth at least £10,408 had been sold to a nearby branch of Cash Generator.
Macdonald and Ms Alexandra had previously been close friends, spending holidays and weekends away together.
Ms Alexandra once even loaned her more than £1,200 to pay off a credit card debt.
Sheriff Margaret Neilson said she had been “narrowly persuaded” not to jail Macdonald, and instead ordering her to pay back the £35,000 she stole between November 24, 2011, and April 11, 2013 within four weeks.
Macdonald will also have to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and will be under supervision by social workers for the next 18 months.
Ms Alexandra described the offence as an “awful breach of trust” and said she was disappointed with the sentence.
She said: “I held her in high esteem, we were good friends, we had been on holiday, we did family things together, meals at each other’s homes.”
Ms Alexandra said that her business’s insurance had not covered her for the thefts.
She added: “She very narrowly avoided jail, she should have done a prison sentence for what she did but obviously her solicitor was very good on her behalf.
“She has shown no remorse and I’ve never had an apology.”
Macdonald’s counsel, advocate Shahid Latif, said his client had sought help for gambling and had been suffering from depression.
The court heard Macdonald had sold her home in Nairn’s Sheil Square to repay the money and although she had moved to Larkhall in South Lanarkshire she was in the process of returning to the Highlands.
Mr Latif said Macdonald had been caught in a “downward spiral” because of her addiction, starting by taking small amounts which grew steadily larger.
He said she had been “always hoping that the next bet would allow her to pay her debts back”.
He added: “This offending is rooted in her addiction to gambling, which, as the courts will be aware, snares an individual in its vice.”
