A thieving finance boss who stole more than £21k from the Bowes Museum to fund her gambling addiction has been told to pay back the entire sum plus more.
Tracey Sell took £21,096 from the accounts of the charity which runs the museum over 15 months before leaving the role of financial manager of her own accord, in March 2024.
It was not until more than six months later that an audit discovered she had redirected eight payments to her own bank account since December 2022 by replacing the museum’s account number with her own.
She narrowly avoided prison when a 12-month sentence was suspended for two years last September.
Appearing back at Durham Crown Court on Tuesday (June 2) for a Proceeds of Crime Act settlement hearing, Sell was told she has three months to pay back £22,849 or risk a 12-month prison sentence.
Charlie Thompson, prosecuting, said the figures were agreed and the adjusted benefit figure was now put at £22,849.
He said a confiscation order could be made in the form of compensation to the museum charity for that amount and Tony Davis, for the defendant, agreed with that course.
Judge Aisha Wadoodi duly made the compensation order in that sum.
The court previously heard how Sell made admissions when she was interviewed in February last year, blaming the cost-of-living crisis and a gambling addiction for her actions.
Sell, 59, of Porter Gardens, Bishop Auckland, admitted a charge of theft by an employee.
A mother-of-two grown-up sons, she was said to have found new employment after leaving her job at the museum and before her crimes were detected.
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Her crown court sentencing hearing, in September last year, was told the shortfall in income through Sell’s activities represented “a significant loss” to the museum, as it represented the equivalent payment of a part-time member of staff or the cost of funding an educational programme.
It triggered a review of operating systems at the museum.
Sell, who was said to have led an otherwise “blameless life”, received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, during which she had to complete 120 hours’ unpaid work and attend 20 probation-run rehabilitation activity days.
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