The woman involved in the Tim Paine sexting scandal claims she stole money from Cricket Tasmania partly because she was struggling in a toxic work environment and wanted to "somehow punish" the organisation.
Renee Ferguson, 49, has admitted to stealing $5,600 from Cricket Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes over several months.
Ferguson worked at the front desk at Cricket Tas from August 2015 until she resigned in December 2017.
The court heard she was in charge of dealing with the company's memberships, and on a number of occasions in late 2017, she pocketed the cash herself.
Some of the thefts were caught on CCTV.
She also signed herself and her family members up for Cricket Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes memberships without paying for them.
But the court heard it was not the first time Ferguson had stolen from an employer.
Prosecutor Andrew Tye told the court Ferguson had previously been given a 12-month suspended jail sentence for stealing more than $29,000 from a medical centre in Hobart.
It was suspended for two years on the condition of good behaviour.
Mr Tye told the court it was about six weeks later that she started stealing from Cricket Tasmania.
Ferguson reported 'toxic working environment'
Ferguson's lawyer, Marcia Edwards, started her submissions by offering up an apology to Cricket Tasmania on behalf of Ferguson.
"It's with absolute contrition that she does offer her apologies for what happened," said Ms Edwards.
Ms Edwards described Ferguson's case as a "very unique situation, just given what has happened around this offending".
She told the court Ferguson moved to Victoria in 2019 because there was "a lot of media attention around her and her employment at Cricket Tasmania".
"She left to decrease the humiliation and shame that she felt was bestowed upon her and her children," she told the court.
"She felt it was better for them to move herself because media attention around this matter and other matters to do with Cricket Tasmania was so overwhelming."
Ms Edwards said Ferguson had been going through a difficult time when she began offending.
"She had gone through a divorce at the time … and also decided to leave a job of 15 years," Ms Edwards told the court.
"[She went from] working in a very happy environment in the health system … to a toxic working environment [at Cricket Tasmania] that caused her to breach her sentence.
"She instructs me she did report that there was a toxic work environment at Cricket Tasmania ... but it was ignored and she was sanctioned in relation, which led to a performance review."
Ms Edwards told the court she was also struggling mentally because of the divorce, and it was in this "whirlwind environment" that Ferguson found herself stealing from Cricket Tasmania.
"[Because] she thinks it's a good idea or to somehow punish Cricket Tasmania," she said.
'Four years of madness'
Regarding the earlier stealing convictions, Ms Edwards told the court Ferguson "felt she was being underpaid in her duties at the medical centre".
"[She] foolhardily and stupidly decided essentially to pay herself how much she was short-changed."
Ms Edwards likened it to "30 seconds of madness", conceding that for Ferguson it was actually "four years of madness".
She told the court that over the past few years, Ferguson had kept a "dignified silence" about matters involving Cricket Tasmania.
"She was offered 60 Minutes, current affairs programs, not one word has Ms Ferguson spoken," Ms Edwards told the court.
"She doesn't wish to speak about anything to do with anything that's in the media in relation to this matter."
As she urged Chief Magistrate Catherine Geason to consider community service or home detention, Ms Edwards told the court Ferguson had managed to build a new life in Victoria.
She said Ferguson was now gainfully employed and her current employers are aware of her history and trust her completely.
"The woman who committed these offences and the woman who is sitting next to me today is not the woman who manifested between 2014 and 2017," she told the court.
Ferguson will be sentenced in early March.
