Woman steals £38,000 but AVOIDS prison after Judge says “I hate jailing women”
In yet another example of how the law discriminates in favour of women with ‘light touch’ sentencing, an office manager who went on a £38,000 shopping spree on a company debit card was spared jail because the judge ‘hates sending women to prison.’
Sophie Franklin, 30, helped herself to the cash when working for Circle Square Agency based in Bermondsey, southeast London.
Between January 2014 and August 2016 she used the company card to splash out on designer clothes, make-up, sunglasses for her and her friends.
She spent £7,000 on taxis and ran up huge hotel and mobile phone bills under her bosses noses.
Franklin sobbed in the dock at Inner London Crown Court as Judge Owen Davies, QC, adjourned sentence and said: ‘I hate sending to prison women who have not been to prison before.’
She was employed as an office manager at the Circle Square advertising agency and began to use the business debit card to withdraw £37,997.
Franklin controlled and manipulated invoices and receipts, the court heard. Her deceit was not discovered until she had left that position and the new manager did an audit.
The court heard Franklin has done ‘everything to save, scrimp and borrow’ to pay the money back and has already paid back £32,000.
Judge Davies adjourned the case until 17 May to see if Franklin can pay back the remaining £5,997.
Said Fathers4Justice, “It is inexcusable that the judge has failed to follow the correct sentencing tariffs for fraud and allowed Ms Franklin to buy herself out of the offence.”
