Tearful fraudster begs Sheffield judge not to jail her after she gets time behind bars

Sheffield Crown Court heard on February 9 how Rachael McRoy, aged 36, of Barnsley Road, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, committed the fraud while she was working for Sheffield courier firms Intime Express and Rocket Express as an accounts administrator.

Judge Peter Kelson QC sentenced McRoy to 27 months of custody after he said she had committed the fraud between November, 2016, and January, 2019, to the value of thousands of pounds with 63 or so transactions.

As McRoy was being lead away by a custody officer she said: “No, please. Please do not send me to prison. Please. No. No, judge, judge. I cannot go to prison.”

Judge Kelson had told the court the fraud had been aggravated by McRoy’s deliberate attempts to cover her tracks by cancelling a bank enquiry when the company became suspicious.

He said: “This is a serious aggravating factor to a deliberate and blatant attempt to cover your tracks once your employers became involved.”

A company boss stated the fraud had meant further accountancy expenses had to be paid and he feared the impact of the offence could have put other employees’ jobs at risk and could have led to the loss of the business.

McRoy had originally pleaded guilty in May, 2021, to two counts of fraud relating to her time as an accounts administrator for Intime Express, between 2016 and 2019, and Rocket Express, between 2018 and 2019.

According to the charges, McRoy had been expected to be safeguarding the financial interests of the firms, but she dishonestly abused her position by transferring company monies into her own personal bank.

Judge Kelson told how defence barrister Laura Marshall had pointed out McRoy has expressed remorse for her actions and a number of references stated that the defendant had acted out of character.

He acknowledged McRoy had also been trying to address a gambling addiction and that she has been in poor health and she has caring responsibilities.

However, as Judge Kelson told McRoy she would be going to prison she was reduced to tears and begged not to be sent to jail as she was led away by the dock officer.