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| Park Christmas club savings thief Joanne Jones jailed for 18 months | Park Christmas club savings thief Joanne Jones jailed for 18 months |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A mother-of-four who stole nearly £8,000 from a Christmas savings club in south Wales has been jailed for 18 months. | A mother-of-four who stole nearly £8,000 from a Christmas savings club in south Wales has been jailed for 18 months. |
| Joanne Jones, 36, admitted taking £7,734.90 from 19 people in Treharris at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. | Joanne Jones, 36, admitted taking £7,734.90 from 19 people in Treharris at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. |
| Jones, now living in Brixham, Devon, was a Park Group representative and had been collecting regular payments since January 2013. | Jones, now living in Brixham, Devon, was a Park Group representative and had been collecting regular payments since January 2013. |
| The judge called her behaviour a "disgraceful breach of trust". | The judge called her behaviour a "disgraceful breach of trust". |
| Jones had caused stress and anxiety to the people who took out the accounts, said Judge Richard Twomlow. | Jones had caused stress and anxiety to the people who took out the accounts, said Judge Richard Twomlow. |
| He added her clients "were people you knew or family members and their Christmases were seriously affected by why you did". | He added her clients "were people you knew or family members and their Christmases were seriously affected by why you did". |
| Families thought their money would be returned in vouchers to buy Christmas presents. | Families thought their money would be returned in vouchers to buy Christmas presents. |
| Clare Fear, defending, told the court Jones stole the money to buy drink for her abusive and alcoholic husband. | |
| Jones was also ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge. | |
| After the hearing, victim Joanne McLean, who lost £900, said: "This caused unbelievable stress for everyone, we're devastated by it. | |
| "She breached our trust, not just the money that's gone but she was supposed to be our friend, we lost somebody that was supposed to be our friend. | |
| "She got what she deserved." | |
| Another victim Sarah Courtney added: "I was relying on all that [money] and I had to save again then. It's a lot for me." | |
| Helena Kinglake, who lost about £230, said outside court: "I felt the sentence was deserved. It was a really close friend, a really close-knit community, we all lived a stone's throw from each other and she broke our trust as a friend and as an agent. | |
| "We're all victims, her children are victims, she's a victim. But at the end of the day she did commit the crime and she got the sentence that she deserved." |