A dishonest Leicestershire GP practice manager has been jailed for defrauding her employers of £184,000.
Apologies for the tardiness of this update, it now being more than a month since the date of sentencing. I am only writing it because my original article still receives a lot of interest, so people are clearly following the case.
Kirsty Louise Whawell, 40, of Kimberley Street, Kibworth Beauchamp, near Market Harborough, admitted one charge of fraud by false representation and six charges of fraud by abuse of position when she appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday, 2nd March 2021.
She finally appeared at for sentencing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, 16th July 2021.
It now transpires that Whawell is even more dishonest than was originally reported.
Not only did she systematically fleece her employers, Kibworth Medical Centre, of £184,000 over a period of six years, but she also lied her way into the job in the first place.
According to a report in the Mirror, which was curiously omitted by its sister paper the Leicester Mercury, Whawell falsified a DBS certificate to conceal the fact she had a previous conviction for stealing from an employer. Had that been known to the practice, she would never have got her foot in the door.
Andrew Scott, prosecuting, described to the court how Whawell had falsified invoices and cheques totalling almost £127,000, paying the proceeds into her own bank account. She also gave herself unauthorised pay rises, pocketed overtime payments for hours that were never worked and used practice funds to pay for holiday lettings.
Balraj Bhatia QC, mitigating, said references from Whawell's friends and family spoke highly of her. He also said his client was ashamed and remorseful for her actions and that she had been "vilified, abused and ostracised" by the community.
Mr Bhatia told the court that Whawell was desperate to have a child. She took money from the practice to fund fertility treatment, but had originally intended to pay it back. She also used her illicit gains to help other people financially.
Mr Bhatia said: "She's a thoroughly decent woman who did something dreadfully wrong."
Jailing Whawell for 12 months, Mr Recorder Patrick Upward QC said: "This was a very serious breach of trust. You lied in order to do it and lied in order to conceal it.
"References from family and friends make it hard to believe they relate to the same person. On the one hand a person everyone looked up to and yet, on the other hand, throughout that period is a thief.
"You abused your position over a sustained period in a sophisticated nature. The aggravation is in the lies and the different methods of committing the offences.
"The mitigation, I recognise, is substantial and I accept your remorse is genuine."
Given her previous form for dishonesty, I am not sure that I do.
No comments:
Post a Comment