Women's Aid manager stole £40,000 from charity to buy holidays and jewellery

A woman who embezzled almost £40,000 from a Women’s Aid branch has been jailed.

Jay Reid stole the money while working as a manager of Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid in Dunoon between December 2016 and January 2021.

The 67-year-old splashed out on foreign holidays, expensive jewellery, designer perfume and purchases on Amazon.

She was sentenced at Greenock Sheriff Court after a jury found her guilty of embezzlement. She was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Reid worked as a manager of the children’s service at the Dunoon office and had control of the branch’s bank account.

Her crimes were revealed when other members of staff at Women’s Aid discovered that payments had not been made to their pensions.

Charity officials then investigated, and Reid’s offending was fully identified following a Scottish Government audit.

A financial investigator discovered that Reid had used a Women’s Aid credit card to finance illegitimate purchases totalling £39,726 and highlighted the frequency of transactions.

None of the outlay was spent on service users who rely on Women’s Aid for support.

Spending included holidays to Tenerife and Amsterdam, furniture from IKEA, a Weightwatchers membership, as well as vet bills.

Anne Marie Hicks, procurator fiscal for North Strathclyde, said: “Jay Reid committed an egregious betrayal of trust by taking advantage of her position to embezzle money from her employers.

“She showed no regard for the impact her crimes would have on vulnerable women and children who relied on support from Women’s Aid or the effect it would have on those trying to run such an important charity.

“The public will rightly be appalled.

“Embezzlement is not a victimless crime. As prosecutors, we are fully committed to tackling financial crime of this kind.”