A former South Holland District Council employee spent £8,470 on company cards after her mental health deteriorated due to the amount of work put on her, a court has heard.
Beverley Paskell, 41, of The Chase, Crowland, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Boston Magistrates Court today (Wednesday, April 24).
The charge relates to a two year period between April 1, 2021 and April 1, 2023 when Paskell was a technical operations manager for South Holland District Council, though defence solicitor Carrie Simson told the hearing she didn’t take up the role until two months after the stated date.
The court was told Paskell’s spending had been traced back to her following a financial investigation.
Miss Simson claimed that other employees had also spent for themselves on district council credit cards but that she was unsure if they would be prosecuted.
“Essentially this is somebody whose mental health significantly declined during the covid period,” she said of Paskell whose partner and 12-year-old son accompanied her to court. “Much of the staff had been laid off and she found herself in a position where four jobs were rolled into one.
“Her partner actually came to work with her to ease her stresses.
“Relationships at work broke down. Her employer asked her to do roles such as being a first responder without giving her any training and litter picking.
“Mental health took hold and it led to depression.”
Miss Simson told the court that Paskell had no previous convictions and had helped police with their enquiries.
“She spent hours in her home going through credit card bills of what she’d spent to assist the police,” she continued. “She has owned up to everything she has done.
“This is somebody that’s full of remorse.
“This series of events has had catastrophic consequences on the family.”
Miss Simson said that Paskell had a new job as well as being a full time carer to her partner and requested magistrates themselves sentence her while arguing against a potential jail sentence so she could pay back the £8740.82 as requested by the district council.
However magistrate Elizabeth Bamford said the offence was ‘so serious’ as to be ’out of their remit’.
Paskell will be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court at a later date.
