A woman from Stirlingshire who embezzled £49,000 from her own grandmother after being granted power of attorney has been ordered to repay the money within nine months.
Nicola MacKenzie was spared jail but handed the maximum possible number of hours of unpaid work.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard the 40-year-old had £20,000 immediately available and hopes to raise most of the outstanding balance by selling a property.
Sheriff William Gilchrist sentenced MacKenzie to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work on a supervision order for 12 months, in addition to the £49,000 compensation order.
She was warned failure to comply with the sentence could see her sent to prison.
Mackenzie, of Cawder Gardens, Bridge of Allan, admitted embezzling £49,000 between October 2018 and May 2019 at addresses in the town and Stirling.
Fiscal depute Jamie Hilland had previously told the court Mackenzie claimed to have consolidated her grandmother’s money into two bond accounts.
After financial anomalies were spotted, it was discovered tens of thousands of pounds were unaccounted for.
‘Horrified’
Solicitor Alastair Ross, defending, said MacKenzie had spent the money on “property improvement type work”.
He added she had received previous financial support from her grandmother and believed she wished for that support to continue.
He said: “Ms Mackenzie is horrified to find herself in this position.
“She had a very good relationship with her grandmother. Her grandmother was very generous.
“There was an indication from her grandmother that money coming to Ms Mackenzie at a later date was better being used now.”
He said she had struggled with the responsibilities of being power of attorney.
Mr Ross said there had been “no contact” between MacKenzie and her grandmother for some time but his client hopes to rekindle the relationship.
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