Our thanks to Lewis for this. A woman getting a suspended sentence, eh? That’s unusual. Of course a man had to be responsible for her crime:

“Representing Mason, Kane Sharpe said The Fire Fighters Charity raises ‘in excess’ of £8m a year to offer ‘context’ to the figure of her theft. He said she was ‘ashamed’ of her ‘terrible mistake’.

Mr Sharpe added that she had been in a ‘toxic and abusive’ 25 year marriage and was at ‘rock bottom’ mentally and financially at the time of the offending.

Bingo was ‘escapism’ that offered her a ‘haven’ from her marriage, the court was told.” 

The end of the piece:

“A compensation order stating she pay back £5,000 was also made, although the court heard she aims to pay back the full amount.”

Let’s get this straight. Her ‘punishment’ for stealing £18,000 was to pay £5,000, netting her a £13,000 profit. But she “aims” to pay back the full amount. Yeah, righto!!!