A FORMER Acorn employee who took an estimated £1,176 from the charity which “gave her a chance” has been given a community service order.
Serena Christina Goubert (27) admitted one count of larceny and one count of embezzlement.
Her crimes came to light when a fellow member of staff at Acorn Enterprises member raised the alarm about financial “discrepancies”, legal adviser Kerry Grieve told the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The charity, which runs a charity shop and plant nursery in Trinity and helps people with disabilities find work placements, found a till receipt for £40 generated by Goubert when she was not scheduled to work.
When the charity investigated further, by reviewing footage and going through its records, it found that on 56 occasions, Goubert had issued “what could be described as fake refunds where she would take money from the till”, the court heard.
The charity also uncovered “31 separate occasions where she was seen opening the till and taking money when there were no customers present”, Ms Grieve said.
Ms Grieve said the refunds totalled £890, and the stolen money was estimated to be £286.
In a statement read out in court, the charity’s executive officer Penelope Shurmer said: “The impact has been significant. It has had a significant emotional impact on the charity’s trustees, staff and volunteers.”
She described Goubert as “a trusted employee” of seven or eight years and added that the discovery of her crimes caused “shock, betrayal and distress”.
Advocate Stephen Wauchope, defending, said Goubert wanted to pay back the money and that she was “deeply remorseful” for letting down an employer who “gave her a chance”.
“She knows she let them down and she let down her colleagues, some of whom felt like friends,” he said, before urging the court to follow the probation officer’s recommendation for a community service order.
Handing down the sentence, Relief Magistrate David Le Cornu said: “I accept that you regret what you did.
“Nevertheless, it is a very serious matter for somebody who has been involved with Acorn for so many years , you will understand exactly what Acorn is about and in fact, how successful it has been in its activities – in part because of the involvement of yourself and your former colleagues.
“It sounds like a cliché to say you have let them down but I think it’s actually true and you know that.”
He sentenced Goubert to 90 hours of community service and ordered her to pay back the money within seven days.
