A crooked mum and pre-school treasurer who helped herself to nearly £90,000 from a charity in a horrific long-running scam has been locked up for the "grossest abuse of trust you can imagine".
Mum-of-two Gemma Waterhouse left the trustees of the charity and employees feeling "very angry, betrayed and deceived".
The final total loss after repayments was £28,139 but the "disgraceful" fraud continued unknown over a number of years and caused the pre-school a "complete nightmare", Hull Live reports.
Hull Crown Court heard how she covered up the losses and even forged the manager's signature and it was a "terrible, damaging ordeal".
Waterhouse, 39, from near Hornsea, Yorkshire, admitted fraud by transferring money from a charity bank account between January 2012 and January 2019.
She also admitted falsifying year-end financial reports and bank statements.
Giles Bridge, prosecuting, said that Waterhouse was on Leven Pre-school's committee and worked as the voluntary treasurer.
A letter from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs was received in January 2019 showing a £16,235 debt over failure to make Pay As You Earn and staff National Insurance payments since April 2012.
It came as a surprise to manager Dawn Whiting as payslips showed that payments and deductions had been made.
A total of £89,743 had been paid into accounts belonging to Waterhouse or her husband's business.
The prosecution accepted that the actual total adjusted loss after repayments was £28,139.
Waterhouse had changed addresses on correspondence from the pre-school to her home without the knowledge of the other trustees or staff.
She changed committee meeting minutes over the pre-school's bank account to require only one signature.
Waterhouse also falsified Mrs Whiting's signature.
"False balances helped to prolong the offending before the offences came to light," said Mr Bridge.
Waterhouse did not bank all the cash that had been raised for the pre-school.
The manager saw Waterhouse at a garden centre and the treasurer said: "It's a complete mess."
Waterhouse said that she had been struggling for years, did not know how to handle things, she did not know how to ask for help and that things had got worse and worse.
The fraud had been going on for longer than five years. She had joined the committee in September 2011.
Waterhouse said of the breach of trust: "I know and that makes me feel worse. I have to put it right. I want to try and put it right but I need time.
"It's all gone. There's nothing left."
Rachel Scott, mitigating, said that Waterhouse has no previous convictions.
She had two children, aged 12 and 11, and had previously worked making bespoke gifts to sell online but could no longer do this because of problems caused by the pandemic and other factors.
"She fully understands that this is an offence that offends the public trust and that it's disgraceful," said Miss Scott.
"It started with a little bit of borrowing here and there and got completely out of hand. It put people's jobs at risk.
"It was not what she intended when she started this offending."
Waterhouse's husband had spent money without consulting her, including £10,000 for a pond in the back garden.
"She has gone and done this in order to keep the family finances afloat, which, of course, is absolutely no excuse," said Miss Scott.
"She doesn't want to deflect any sort of blame here."
Waterhouse behaved in an "appalling" way after falling into a vicious circle.
"She will never be trusted again," added Miss Scott. "She will never be in a position of responsibility again and that's something that greatly upsets her."
Recorder Alex Menary told Waterhouse that she had "fallen an awful long way" by falsifying the pre-school accounts to "make it look like everything was all right" but concealing the fact that she was stealing from it.
"The staff who work there are volunteers and put in long hours," he said.
"This was sophisticated in nature because it wasn't just the case that you were putting your hand in the till on occasion."
Waterhouse forged signatures to gain access to bank accounts over a significant period of time.
"It's the grossest abuse of trust you can imagine," said Recorder Menary.
The money raised was for children's equipment that volunteers had worked long hours to raise.
"The whole point is that it was for children," said Recorder Menary.
"It was a charity and not meant to be for profit."
The fraud came to a "shuddering halt" when a letter arrived from HMRC.
"These offences are so serious that only a prison sentence can be justified," said Recorder Menary.
"There is a serious detrimental impact."
Waterhouse was jailed for 18 months.
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