Gym manager with 'long-standing gambling addiction' stole £5,000 from employer
Kathryn MacDonald, 44, had previously been jailed after stealing £48,000 from the council she worked for at the time
Kathryn MacDonald, 44, stole £5,000 after defrauding customers at the gym where she was employed as a manager
(Image: South Wales Police )
A gambling addict stole more than £5,000 from the gym she was employed by after asking customers to pay in cash and pocketing the majority of the funds. She had previously been jailed after stealing £48,000 from the council she worked for.
Kathryn MacDonald, 44, was employed as a manager at B Fit Personal Training Club in Cardiff when she committed the fraud. Customers of the gym were required to make card payments in order to pay for memberships but the defendant asked three victims to pay via cash.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Monday heard MacDonald paid only a small amount of money to the Roath-based gym, and kept the rest for herself. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
The first victim paid £2,400 but the defendant only paid £252 of that to the gym.
The second victim paid £1,207 but MacDonald paid the gym £200 of that amount.
The third victim, a friend of the defendant, paid £2,245 but only £194 was paid to the gym.
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As a result, prosecutor Paul Hewitt said MacDonald benefited by £5,825 through the fraud, which was carried out between August 2022 and November 2023.
Her actions came to light after discrepancies were noticed in the financial accounts of the gym, and following investigation the defendant was sacked for gross misconduct.
It was said the reputation of B Fit Personal Training Club had suffered as a result of the fraud, as well as suffering a large financial loss.
In a victim personal statement, one of the defendant's victims said she felt "used and manipulated" by MacDonald who she considered a friend, and she now "questions everybody's motives" when meeting them.
MacDonald, of Traston Road, Newport, later pleaded guilty to theft by an employee and four counts of fraud by false representation.
The court heard the defendant has relevant previous convictions, after she committed fraud by false representation against her former employer Vale of Glamorgan council after she stole £48,000 through putting her bank account details on council tax payments.
She was sentenced to 18-months imprisonment as a result of this conviction.
In mitigation, Jac Brown said his client had a long-standing gambling addiction, but since committing the latest fraud she has repaid £3,840 and has offered to pay £300 a month towards the remaining sum.
The barrister said the defendant has found new employment but her health has deteriorated due to receiving preventative cancer surgery. She is also concerned about being sent to prison, having previously worked as a prison officer at HMP Eastwood Park.
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Sentencing, Judge Celia Hughes said: "This was an appalling way to behave to your employer. This was a small business trying to make a living by running a gym. The loss has had a substantial effect."
MacDonald was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment.
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