A former Manchester City executive who stole more than £100,000 from the club to pay for her wedding has been jailed. Fiona Barclay, 33, worked as a business development manager for City within the football club's hospitality department, earning up to £30,000 a year.
But now Barclay, who is pregnant, is beginning an 18 month jail sentence after being caught swindling cash from the club. After being discovered, she told police she'd used her ill-gotten gains to pay for her wedding and buy 'gifts' for her husband and family.
Barclay, from Scotland, wept during the hearing before she was sent to prison. Manchester Crown Court heard that Barclay was rumbled after accountants flagged a suspicious transaction, when a refund of £25,000 had issued in March last year.
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Prosecuting, Ellen Shaw said it aroused suspicion 'by the fact it was a large round number'. Barclay was questioned and she admitted she'd made an 'error', and apologised.
She admitted depositing £15,000 of the sum into her own bank account, and paid it back to the club. But the club investigated further and discovered that Barclay had been siphoning money from the club since June 2019.
In total she had stolen more than £104,000. City remain £89,000 out of pocket, after Barclay paid back the £15,000. Barclay faced internal disciplinary proceedings at the club and was sacked in March last year.
After a criminal investigation was launched, she told police she'd used the cash to pay for 'various parts of her wedding', and for buying 'gifts for her husband and family'. She pleaded guilty to an offence of fraud by abuse of position.
Defending, Patrick Buckley appealed for Barclay to be spared from being sent to prison. He said that Barclay had moved from her home in Scotland to take the job, and had become isolated.
"It seems that being hundreds and hundreds of miles away from home, isolated and lonely, solace was sought in retail therapy," he said. "The problem was that the retail therapy was at the expense of her employer."
Mr Buckley said Barclay is 'utterly disgusted with herself'. "There is nothing in terms of reason or logical reason why she did what she did," the barrister added.
"It must have been inevitable that she would eventually be caught." He said the impact of the case has been 'utterly heartbreaking' for her and that her mental health has suffered.
Since being sacked by City, she has found a new job with a travel firm and told them about her conviction. Barclay has also tried to contact City to arrange repayment of the money she stole but has not heard back from them, the court heard.
Her husband and family have stood by her, Mr Buckley said, adding that her conviction will remain with her forever. "Whatever lesson needs to be taught has thoroughly been taught," he appealed to the judge.
But Recorder Ciaran Rankin sent Barclay to jail. "This is a tragedy, you have thrown so much away because of your dishonesty, and, I'm afraid, pure greed," he told her.
"You were employed in a good job, as a business development manager at Manchester City. Ultimately that was a job with some responsibility."
The judge said relegation was not a word associated with Premier League champions City, but that she had 'relegated' herself. He added: "I'm afraid you have relegated yourself because of your greed and deception into the ranks of those who can no longer call themselves a person of good character.
"Despite everything that has been said on your behalf, there can only be an immediate custodial sentence. With great regret, Ms Barclay, please go with the officer."
Barclay, of Drum Farm Lane, Falkirk, will serve half of her 18 month sentence in prison. She will now be the subject of an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, to discover whether any of her ill-gotten gains can be clawed back.
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