A PROSECUTION service worker who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash and drugs from an evidence store has been jailed for more than three years.
Katherine Vaughan, 34, of Aberdeen, worked as a production keeper for the Crown Office in the city when she embezzled more than £90,000 in cash and stole £147,000 of drugs – including kilos of heroin and cocaine – over nine years, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.
Among other stolen evidence items found in her home in Great Northern Road were sanitary pads, a stun gun, cigarette ends, chewing gum, jewellery and a safe.
The court was told Vaughan used the money to buy a number of expensive items such as make-up and jewellery.
Jailing the first offender for three years and nine months, judge Lord Beckett told her stealing items she was required to keep safe was an “extraordinary breach of trust”.
Vaughan knew her behaviour was wrong but it was a “compulsion” that stemmed from a troubled childhood, her lawyer Ximena Vengoechea said.
The lawyer said Vaughan took money when she was feeling low to buy things to make her feel good.
Vaughan pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.
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