'Significant abuse' - Trusted Jarrow charity worker with gambling habit fleeced foundation of £46,000
A charity worker has been spared jail despite transferring £46,000 from The Reece Foundation into personal accounts.
A trusted charity administrator who transferred more than £46,000 of the foundation's cash into her own accounts has kept her freedom.
Faye Dent was the only employee at The Reece Foundation, which aims to promote engineering, manufacturing and environmental initiatives in the North East of England through grants and funding.
Newcastle Crown Court heard between September and December 2024 Dent, who had a gambling habit, sent £46,493 to her and her husband's bank accounts.
Prosecutor Rachel Kelly said Dent, who worked alongside trustees and volunteers, "fabricated business names and correspondence to avoid detection".
A spokesperson for The Reece Foundation said in an impact statement: "She was considered a friend of the foundation and trustees."
The court heard the money that was taken could not be simply replaced.
Dent, 39, of Elberfield Court, Jarrow, admitted fraud by abuse of position.
Mairi Clancy, defending, said Dent has a high level of remorse and told the court: "Miss Dent fell victim to the gambling industry at the time these offences were committed."
Miss Clancy said it was a "stupid habit" and Dent is now in debt, living in a council house and has limited means but has a good prospect of rehabilitation.
Recorder Georgina Nolan sentenced Dent to 20 months, suspended for 12 months, with mental health treatment and rehabilitation requirements.
The recorder told her: "It was very clearly a significant abuse of your position of responsibility and it was, in my view, a sophisticated offence."
Recorder Nolan said Dent has suffered significant personal trauma, has children who rely on her and behaved "clearly very out of character".
The Reece Foundation was launched in 2007 by renowned North East engineer and businessman Dr Alan Reece to promote manufacturing and support education relating to engineering, maths and physics.
Dr Reece passed away in December 2012, aged 85, but the Reece Foundation, now chaired by Alan’s daughter Anne on behalf of the Reece family, continues its work.