Stealing to Fund a Gambling Addiction

A gambling addiction is one that can totally consume the life of the affected individual without that person even realising how serious his or her problem is. There have been many instances in which the addict has had to resort to crime to fund their addiction. This is the impact that addiction can have on the individual, and it is obviously something that can ruin this person’s life. An example of this situation occurred to a respected school dinner lady named Betty Davidson, who stole almost £100,000 from the school where she worked in order to fund a gambling addiction.

Dark Secret

The 57-year-old was a trusted member of staff at Rossett secondary school in Yorkshire for over two decades. However, she had a dark secret that resulted in her stealing almost £100,000 from a canteen cash machine at the school; Betty has a severe gambling addiction. She began stealing from the school in 2007 when she was put in charge of a pre-payment machine that was used by both pupils and staff.

Money would be inserted into the machine and transferred to a cashless credit system, which pupils then used to pay for their school lunch. Davidson should have been withdrawing cash from the machine and keeping records up to date; however, she started stealing the funds and putting the money towards her gambling.

Blissfully Unaware of Deception

Other members of staff were blissfully unaware of the deception that was going on right under their noses as Davidson was considered ‘an institution’ and was trusted by the school. Her thefts continued for eight years and were only discovered when a finance director had a thorough look at the accounts. Chloe Farley, prosecuting, explained, “Given how long the defendant was working at the school and the degree of trust placed on her, there was no auditing of her. The defendant was asked for an account of the missing money, and she gave various excuses. She accepted it happened on one occasion and said she had taken the sum of £1,300. There was a disciplinary hearing, and she wrote a letter of resignation – but maintained this had been a single error.”

Feels Terrible

Davidson was suffering from a severe gambling addiction that would see her spend the funds online and even on multiple sites at one time. She started her deception by taking smaller amounts, but once she realised that no one was noticing, she was taking up to £17,000 from the machine at any given time. Alasdair Campbell, mitigating, said that Davidson’s partner was totally clueless in regards to his wife’s addiction as she had hidden this exceptionally well. “She has sought counselling for the illness and feels terrible about the theft and letting the school down.”

An Institution

Davidson admitted to the theft of £98,114, and in light of this, Judge Paul Batty QC said, “No one questioned the amounts that you emptied from the machine because you were no doubt an institution at the school. The reality is that in just over an eight-year period, you stole just under £100,000. This was not a case where you needed the money – you were not stealing to feed or clothe your family with the bare necessities of life. You were stealing to fund a habit and addiction, a habit and addiction which has ultimately ruined you.”

Help with a Gambling Addiction

If you are concerned that you could be suffering from a gambling addiction and are unsure of what to do next, contact us here at Middlegate. We will ensure that you receive the treatment required to benefit you going forward; we want nothing more than for you to lead a life free from addiction. If you have any queries or need further information, contact us today.

Source:

1. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2244915/gambling-addicted-dinner-lady-57-stole-100000-from-a-schools-lunchtime-cash-machine-to-fund-her-secret-habit/