A pregnant Peterhead woman who forged the signature of a client to steal more than £2,000 from her employers has been given more time to pay back what she owes.
Julie-Ann Lawton appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court yesterday when she was expected to be punished for signing up one of her customers to loans they did not agree to take and pocketing the cash.
In May, the 38-year-old pleaded guilty to defrauding her then employer Provident Management Services (PMS) by issuing loans worth £2,500 in the name of an unsuspecting customer on June 30 2014.
The firm, which has declined to comment on the case, only discovered her crime when they began investigating financial irregularities in her accounts.
When it approached the customer who was supposed to have taken the loan they denied asking for the money and confirmed that a signature used to apply for it was not theirs.
Lawton, of Henderson Park in Peterhead, was sacked and reported to police.
And at court yesterday, fiscal depute Ruaridh McAllister said Lawton had so far managed to pay back £650 of the cash she had stolen.
“The accused was previously employed as an agent,” he added.
“As part of her duties, she’d go into homes to collect payments and offer financial products. The complainer in the two charges was a customer of the accused.”
She was afforded six months to pay back the rest to PMS and to prove that she could be on good behaviour.
Her solicitor, Sam Milligan, had suggested that his client could pay back £1,000 within the next 20 days and then offer £100 every month thereafter.
He added that Lawton, who already cares for children, is several months pregnant.
At a hearing in May, he said: “At that time my client was very much embroiled in an abusive relationship.
“There were other behavioural aspects in that matter which caused stress and strain.”
Lawton, who left court wearing a motorcycle helmet, will now return for sentencing on December 19.