A trusted veterinary surgery manager stole thousands, leading to her arrest and sentencing
Swansea: So, there’s this crazy story about a veterinary surgery manager who got caught stealing a whopping £50,000 from her workplace. Charlotte Devonald was supposed to be managing things, but instead, she was pocketing cash and even using a company fuel card for her own stuff.
The court heard that she was pretty much living in denial about what she was doing. She only admitted to her crimes on the day of her trial, and that was after one of the vet owners had to rush back from Australia for the case. Can you imagine? Not even telling her daughter about the whole mess she was in!
Devonald started working at Animal Doctors in Clydach back in 2020, earning a decent salary. The owners trusted her with everything—paying bills, handling payroll, and banking the daily cash. But then, the accountants noticed something was off with the numbers, and that’s when the trouble started.
Turns out, between November 2020 and November 2022, she had been sneaking money into her own account instead of the business’s. She even used the fuel card to fill up her friends’ cars. It’s wild how she thought she could get away with it!
When the police interviewed her, she denied everything, claiming she wasn’t the only one with access to the office safe. But the evidence was stacked against her. The owners of the vet practice said her actions put their small business in serious jeopardy, leaving them in debt and struggling to keep their staff.
In court, they shared how her betrayal affected them deeply. They had trusted her, and now they were left picking up the pieces. Devonald, who’s 44 and from Pembrokeshire, finally pleaded guilty to fraud and theft. She’s got one previous conviction, but this one is a big deal.
Her lawyer described her as fragile and unable to face reality, even saying she hadn’t told her daughter about the situation. The judge didn’t hold back, calling her actions “brazen and cynical.” In the end, she got a three-year prison sentence, but she’ll only serve half of that before being released on license.
It’s a tough lesson about trust and the consequences of betrayal. Just goes to show, you never really know what’s going on behind the scenes!
