Gambling Addict Jailed For 16 Months

A woman addicted to online gambling has been jailed for 16 months after stealing £76,000 from her employer to fund her addiction.

According to Mail Online, Lucienne Mainey took money from APD Ltd over a period of time and paid it into her own bank account. She was approached and warned on several occasions about her actions, but continued to steal.

Although her defence said Mainey has "repeatedly expressed her remorse which does genuinely extend beyond her own predicament and extends to the harm she had caused to her employers and their business", she was sent to jail by Judge Peter Fenn.

He explained: "The message must go out loud and clear from this court to those who might succumb to temptation to steal from those whose money they are in a position of managing." Judge Fenn's actions will hopefully convince those in similar positions to Mainey to get help for their addiction, perhaps turning to things like hypnotherapy to get the root cause of the dependency.

It was only after Mainey's marriage broke down that her addiction developed and had she had some counselling or therapy to help her through that difficult stage, she may have been able to manifest her feelings in a healthier way - rather than gambling with stolen money.

The thief admitted to "five offences of fraud", according to Eadt.co.uk out of the total 25 offences she was charged with and as such, was jailed.