Natalie McGarry should not have been sentenced to prison despite stealing more than £24,600, victims of the former SNP MP have insisted.
Women for Independence (WFI) was one of two campaigning groups which lost thousands as a result of the former high-flying Nationalist's greed.
The voluntary organisation said it was "disappointed" that other punishments such as community service were not considered.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson refusal to grant IndyRef2 'could push more voters towards independence'
McGarry, the ex-MP for Glasgow East, was sentenced on Friday to two years in jail after previously having been found guilty of embezzling £19,974 from WFI between 2013 and 2015, and £4661 from the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP from 2014 to 2015.
Sheriff Tom Hughes told the mum of one: "You were a role model for aspiring politicians and you became an MP.
"By your involvement in these offences, you have not only betrayed the trust placed in you by others but your standards have fallen well short of what the public have the right to expect from politicians and MPs."
But a member of WFI's national committee told the Record that an alternative to custody should have been considered.
Lisa-Marie Hughes, an SNP councillor on Renfrewshire Council, said she was "disappointed" with the sentence.
"If you look at the damage it causes to put a woman in prison for a sentence of two years, the impact it has on families, and the prospects of rehabilitation when they come out, it serves no purpose really," she said.
"At least a sentence of community service would have some benefit.
"I'm not suggesting it should not be a significant amount of community service given the complexity of the issue.
"Unless it is for a very significant crime, custodial sentences do not serve anyone well."
Hughes added: "Women are generally the care-givers in families.
"I worry about the impact custodial sentences have on children.
"It is a real concern and something that WFI have campaigned against for a very long time."
Hughes said her colleagues at WFI faced criticism from some fellow campaigners when they first raised a complaint with police over McGarry's behaviour.
"We are glad that it is finished," she added.
"There was some criticism of us when we launched the case and there is a feeling of vindication for us.
"But mostly we just want to move on now.
"We have an independence referendum coming and we want to get on with that without this drawing focus."
McGarry helped found WFI in 2012 with former health secretary Jeane Freeman and ex-Scottish Socialist MSP Carolyn Leckie.
Donations to the group via PayPal and £27,700 from online fundraisers went into McGarry's personal bank account.
But colleagues became suspicious after a financial report to the 2015 AGM was described as "gobbledygook". A probe that year unearthed a £31,824 hole and police were called.
At her trial, the jury was shown a bank statement in which McGarry's personal account had a balance of £10.74 - later topped up by a PayPal transfer of £1700. A £1000 rent payment came off the next day.
McGarry also went on holiday to Spain around that time. She transferred £1140 from her account to partner David Meikle, a Tory councillor, who had just spent £1035 on flights and car hire.
McGarry also failed to pay charity Positive Prisons Positive Futures £360 from a bucket collection and a similar one for a Perth food bank.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
READ NEXT:
