A JUDGE said he is baffled at how the government can allow payday loan companies "to exist" as he allowed a nursing home administrator who abused her position to steal over £12,500 to repay spiralling debts to walk free.
Mother-of-two Laura Dowie had her five-month jail term was suspended for 18 months at Ballymena Magistrates Court yesterday.
The court heard that the managing director of the Care Circle Group in Dunmurry called the police when the families of nursing home residents raised a "lacuna" in payments they had made for their relatives' care.
Dowie "immediately" admitted that instead of crediting residents accounts, "she had pocketed the money" in a situation where she was "robbing Peter to pay Paul."
The 29-year-old from Parkmount in Ballymena, Co Antrim, later pleaded guilty to one count of theft by an employee for stealing £12,527 and a further charge of committing fraud by abusing the position she held on dates between October 31 2012 and 20 January 2015.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court that when initially spoken to Dowie admitted she still had £2,000 of stolen money at home and since the offences were uncovered she had paid it back fully.
Defence barrister Stephen Law revealed that Dowie had borrowed £400 from a payday loan company but that bill soon tuned into a massive £7,000 to be repaid, leading District Judge Des Perry to comment "how any government can allow these people to exist is beyond me."
Mr Law said there is an ongoing investigation into Dowie's loan and described her as "totally distraught" at having to pay back such a large amount so she thought stealing the money "was the quickest option".
He conceded however that "she was always going to be found out".
Imposing the suspended jail term, Judge Perry said such loan companies are "a blight on society where people find themselves having to repay ridiculous amounts of money."
The judge told Dowie he was giving her credit for her early plea and clear criminal record, although given the breach of trust, the "custody threshold is passed".
