Siobhan Ferguson’s gambling addiction led her to defraud the store where she worked by taking National Lottery tickets and scratch cards almost costing five people their jobs
A mum-of-five was found with £19k worth of lottery tickets and scratch cards when police turned up at her door. Siobhan Ferguson’s gambling addiction drove her to defraud the convenience store where she worked, nearly costing five people their jobs.
The 40-year-old was convicted of fraud by false accounting at Preston Crown Court, following revelations that she had been swiping National Lottery tickets and scratch cards from the Premier Store on Devonshire Road in Ulverston, Cumbria.
The court heard that between January and December 2020, Ferguson succumbed to her gambling addiction, causing financial loss and trust issues for her employer. Ferguson started working at the convenience store as a part-time shop assistant, with her responsibilities including the sale of National Lottery tickets and scratch cards.
Her boss, Nigel List, hired her in 2019, having known her as a customer for roughly six years. The lottery tickets they sold were packaged in National Lottery packets and were activated via a barcode scanned into a separate National Lottery terminal, separate from the main till. This process registered them as active on the database, with the National Lottery’s software tracking when a scratch card was activated.
In 2020, Mr List noticed an irregularity when an unusually high number of scratch cards were being activated. He observed that typically, they sold around seven packets per week, but suddenly around 12 were being activated, leading him to believe he should be approximately £2.5k better off each month, according to Lancs Live.
Upon reviewing the CCTV footage, Mr List spotted the defendant putting through countless scratch cards via the terminal. After monitoring the cameras for an extended period, he caught her processing multiple scratch cards for her own benefit, with several payouts going through.
Numerous scratch cards were also found hidden under the till. When police were alerted, nearly 7,000 scratch cards and lottery tickets were uncovered at her home, with many stashed in the downstairs loo.
The total worth of these items discovered at the property came to roughly £19,000. While she tried to reconcile her accounts using her winnings at the end of each day, Ferguson admitted to her gambling addiction and accepted in her plea that there may have been a shortfall.
The court heard that prosecutors had estimated the potential loss of earnings at around £55,000, though the actual financial harm was “difficult to quantify”, according to Mr Recorder B Lawrence.
In his victim impact statement, Mr List detailed how the shop nearly had to shut down after the fraud, being a small business that struggled to weather such significant losses.
Both he and his wife have since found it hard to trust people, with Mr List admitting he now finds himself constantly checking CCTV footage. In his statement, he said: “My wife and I gave you a job offer when you needed employment and in return you abused our trust.
“You nearly cost five people their jobs because we nearly shut the shop for good. The betrayal and financial loss have had a huge strain on my family and marriage. It has taken me the best part of the last four years to generally trust people again.
“Myself and my wife find it very difficult to trust people and the upset will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
The court heard that Ferguson had kicked her gambling habit and stayed out of bother since her arrest, making her unlikely to reoffend again.
Moreover, as a mother-of-five, Mr Recorder B Lawrence decided Ferguson could dodge an immediate jail term to avoid punishing family members who have “done nothing wrong”.
He stated: “Through most of 2020 you succumbed to that addiction by taking national lottery tickets and scratch cards.
“It is difficult to quantify the loss in this case. Police found you in possession of £19k worth of tickets and scratch cards. If maybe you had paid for some of them you could not have paid for all of them.
“You are 40 years of age, you were a lady of good character before this offence and have committed no offences since 2020.”
Ferguson, of Devonshire Road, Ulverston, received a 15 month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
She must also complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge.