A WOMAN who stole almost £2,000 in cash from the social enterprise where she worked has been jailed for three months.
The Magistrate’s Court heard that 40-year-old Kelly Louise Vallois – also known as Kelly Mills – took £1,927 from The Butterfly Café in the Parade during the year that she worked there.
The café was set up to provide job opportunities and training for victims of abuse and Vallois was employed there from its opening in July 2023 until the following July.
The court heard that Vallois – whose responsibilities included baking cakes, cashing up and ordering stock – took money from the till and also from customers which she failed to put into the till. She was caught stealing the money on CCTV.
Legal adviser Harrison Gollop, prosecuting, said it became clear that money had gone missing after the company’s accounts were checked.
He added: “On seven occasions she can be seen on CCTV pocketing the money.”
Vallois resigned when the thefts came to light.
Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, said Vallois was “deeply ashamed” and had written a letter of remorse.
She explained: “She fell into rental arrears and had difficulty paying for her car. This is not a case where the money was spent on luxuries.”
Advocate Binnie also said that Vallois had been prescribed medicinal cannabis to treat an anxiety disorder after other treatments failed to work. “It was an expensive cost but it was a medical prescription.”
Advocate Binnie added: “At the time she was undergoing a great deal of pressure in various areas of her life and she clearly wasn’t thinking straight. But she hasn’t sought to excuse her actions.”
She pointed out that Vallois was deemed at low risk of reconviction, saying: “She will never put anyone in this position again.”
The advocate also said that Vallois had sold her car to help pay any fine and would prefer a community service order than a suspended jail sentence.
“She wants to give back to the community,” she said.
But the Magistrate, Bridget Shaw, said jail was unavoidable.
She said stealing from any employer was a serious breach of trust but told Vallois: “This business is different in a very important way.
“It is not here to make money. It is here to support people and employ people who have been through terrible times in their own lives.
“This kind of larceny is so serious that I cannot avoid a custodial sentence.”
The Magistrate added that she was imposing a short sentence “in an act of mercy”.
Vallois was ordered to pay back the money within four weeks of her release from jail.
