THE Army was last night criticised for pressing for a prosecution and making “a fall guy” of a woman who worked at a North Yorkshire barracks.

Karen Hustwick left court in tears after being given one of a judge’s most lenient sentences because he felt others were also to blame for shoddy procedures in the stores at the barracks.

Hustwick, 50 today, was given a two-year conditional discharge at Teesside Crown Court, after earlier admitting false accounting between October 2007 and September last year.

She was employed in the stores as an assistant regimental accountant, and one of her responsibilities was to equip trainees at Catterick Garrison, and bank their money.

But a change in the procedures, which the court heard had worked well until then, caused a dispute over who should collect the cash for the soldiers’ training shoes.

The result was that the trainees were still issued with equipment, but the Army was not receiving payment, and Hustwick failed to keep her accounts and stock in order.

Hustwick was arrested after the irregularities were found in the books, and an investigation revealed a deficit of more than 1,000 pairs of training shoes, worth £37,905.

Charles Knowles, mitigating, said Hustwick should have “played merry hell”, but did not want to upset others or cause trouble, and “buried her head in the sand”.

He said Hustwick was prosecuted because the Army needed a scapegoat, as it is covered for the theft of and damage to stock, but not for stock deficits.

“They needed to bring this case otherwise they would not have been paid out,” said Mr Knowles.

“They had to find someone to whom the blame could be attached.

“It is rather unpleasant and doesn’t provide great credit to any of the individuals involved.

She is being made the fall guy.”

The Army would not comment on the criticisms, or on claims in court that a senior instructor was discharged after it emerged he was an agent for the company that supplied the footwear, at the same time he was employed at Vimy Barracks.

Judge Briggs said he was imposing one of the most lenient sentences he could, telling sobbing Hustwick: “I am entirely satisfied that it was not done with a view to any profit for yourself.

“In the particular and unusual circumstances of this case, it must be said you did have a significant responsibility and that responsibility you did not discharge.

“However, I do accept there were other forces operating in this matter which made it not altogether easy to get this sorted.”