Sharon Tomlinson walked free from court after stealing money from Benchill Celtic FC. She was not ordered to re-pay the cash but pledged to do so.
A mum who stole more than ?6,000 from a kids? football club where her own children played has vowed to pay back the cash ? and warned others against the dangers of debt.
Sharon Tomlinson, 41, walked free from Manchester Crown Court after stealing money from Benchill Celtic FC in Wythenshawe while acting as its treasurer. She was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and handed a nine-month supervision order by Recorder Judge Robert Crawford QC, who did not order her to repay the cash.
Tomlinson has now admitted to the M.E.N. that even she was surprised she wasn?t ordered to pay up ? and vowed to do so anyway.
She said: ?Taking that money is the biggest regret of my life. I will pay it back no matter how long it takes. I know what it meant to the club, to the children and to the parents. My own children were members so I understand. I have said from the beginning that I will give them back the money and I fully expected the judge to tell me to pay it back. I have never been so ashamed in my life, I 100 per cent regret what I have done.?
Tomlinson, a cleaner at Manchester Airport, added: ?I?m on the sick at the moment because I?m waiting for an operation, and I don?t know if I will lose my job but I?ll find a way to pay the money back.?
Tomlinson, a mother-of-four whose husband is on incapacity benefit, says ill health and huge debts led to her desperate crime ? which left the club with just ?5.95 in the bank and on the brink of closure.
Club bosses, including new treasurer Colin Moore, say it meant many of their 120 players had to keep playing in old kits and they struggled to survive after the thefts.
Tomlinson, of Delwood Gardens, Wythenshawe, added: ?Kids shout at me in the street, I get Facebook messages and one man has threatened to come and get me. I know what it means to children and parents at the club. I feel so sorry for them. But you have to understand this is not just something I did without thinking, I got into a hole and I couldn?t get out of it. I was in so much debt, I couldn?t pay the rent, we were living day to day. I kept borrowing from the club and repaying it but it got out of hand and the amounts backed up. I hit a brick wall and couldn?t afford to repay the money.?
She wants to warn others not to let debt drive them to crime.
She said: ?Don?t bury your head in the sand like I did, get help. If I could just relive through that time I?d get help.?
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