The woman at the centre of the Tim Paine sexting scandal has been handed eight months' home detention for stealing over $5,000 from Cricket Tasmania.
Renee Ferguson, 49, appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court today, wiping away tears as chief magistrate Catherine Geason read out her sentencing remarks.
Ferguson stole $5,600 from Cricket Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes over several months while working at the front desk in an administration role.
The thefts took place in 2017, and some were captured on CCTV.
While organising memberships for people, the court heard she pocketed the money herself and also signed family members and herself up for memberships without paying for them.
The court heard she had concealed her offending by registering the memberships paid by EFTPOS, while taking the cash for herself.
The discrepancy was discovered during an audit.
The court had previously heard Ms Ferguson's offending was a response to a toxic workplace environment at Cricket Tasmania, and that in stealing money, she aimed to "punish" the organisation.
Ferguson admitted that in carrying out the thefts, she had breached the conditions of a 12-month suspended jail sentence, which was in place because she stole over $29,000 from her previous employer, a medical centre in Hobart.
The sentence was suspended on the condition she did not commit another offence punishable by imprisonment.
Previous suspended sentence for thefts wiped out
In sentencing, Ms Geason said she decided against activating the suspended sentence, and instead re-sentenced Ferguson to the period in home detention.
Ms Geason said Ferguson's counsel had urged her to consider a community correction order or another suspended sentence, but said she ultimately believed it did not appropriately mark the seriousness of her conduct.
Ferguson will need to carry out the sentence in southern Tasmania, despite having relocated to Victoria.
Ms Geason acknowledged Ferguson had no prior offending to her name before 2017, and that she had pleaded guilty, although late in proceedings.
She said the offending had happened during the breakdown of Ferguson's marriage, and that since then, she had done her best to move on from her offending and address her mental health issues.
Ms Geason said there was no suggestion Ferguson used the stolen money for "lavish purposes".
But she noted Ferguson had not ceased her offending "voluntarily", she had only stopped because she was confronted.
