Gambling addict sentenced for Neighbourhood Watch theft

Gambling addict sentenced for Neighbourhood Watch theft
By Loukas Founten

A woman who admitted stealing more than $20,000 from the Neighbourhood Watch Volunteers Association has avoided a jail term.

Magdalena Paluba, 65, faced Adelaide Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to 29 charges of theft committed over eight months in 2009.

She had been acting as the Association treasurer.

The court heard she wrote unauthorised cheques and deposited cash into her bank account, using the money to gamble or meet living expenses her gambling habit caused.

Paluba shook as she told the court she had repaid the money.

Magistrate Paul Foley said that did not excuse her abuse of a position of trust.

"You used the proceeds either directly for gambling through pokie machines or to meet living expenses you couldn't otherwise afford due to your addiction to gambling," he said.

But he suspended a seven-month prison sentence and put the woman on a bond for a year.