The allegations in this matter involved two instances of theft of money from an organisation where the client had previously worked. The client held a trusted position within the organisation and was responsible for various financial transactions, as well as bookkeeping and other significant duties. The client came to us having made significant admissions against interest in a recorded police interview. The client’s primary concern was the risk of imprisonment as well as the cost and delay of having to progress the matter to the District Court.

Because the value of the stolen property exceeded $50,000, the charges as pleaded had to be sent to the District Court for trial or sentence. This is never ideal given the additional costs involved in proceedings on indictment, the additional delay and the prospect of receiving a greater sentence upon conviction. After analysing the matter, it was apparent that it was possibly to have the case remain in the Magistrates Court jurisdiction if the values of the charges were amended.

We presented a detailed plea offer submission to the police which submitted that the charges should be amended to allow the case to remain in the Magistrates Court. Further, we liaised with the client to arrange repayment of the entirety of the stolen funds to our trust account. After some consideration, the prosecution accepted our submission.

The client entered a guilty plea and we obtained a detailed psychological report, which explained some of the important circumstances giving rise to the offending. We took detailed instructions from the client and following that presented detailed written submissions to the Magistrate. These included clear confirmation of repayment of the stolen funds.

Following some deliberation, the Magistrate was persuaded to accept our submission. The client was sentenced to a conditional suspended imprisonment order of 18 months’ duration. Whilst an onerous penalty, this fantastic outcome meant that the client avoided a substantial gaol sentence, which is an almost certain outcome in cases involving stealing large amounts of money from an employer. The client was very happy with the outcome and thanked us for our work on the matter.