Former Visit Isle of Wight finance officer Joanne Thornton has been given 4 months to pay back £33,875 that she stole from the tourism organisation.
Thornton, 55, now of Snaithing Lane in Ranmore, Sheffield, admitted fraud by abuse of position to the sum of £18,961 and theft by an employee to the sum of £14,913 when she appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court last month. However, Magistrates decided their sentencing powers were not great enough and the case was adjourned to the Crown Court.
Judge Richard Melville today (Friday) deferred sentencing to give Thornton until 11th March to pay back the full amount, but warned of ‘dire consequences’ if she doesn’t repay the money in full.
The court heard how the new managing director, Will Myers, ordered an audit following his appointment and soon discovered that ‘all was not well’. Thornton went off sick and appeared anxious about something. It was then discovered through a forensic examination that Thornton had been transferring money into her own bank account. Cash was also stolen.
In addition to the almost £34,000 directly lost through Thornton’s actions, Visit Isle of Wight are a further £28,000 out of pocket in terms of the lost hours and the costs of the investigation into the situation.
For Thornton, Mr Barry Arnett previously told the Magistrates Court that she planned to pay the £33,875 back today so that there is no loss to Visit Isle of Wight. It was said that it would be made possible by the cashing in of Thornton’s pension pot, but at court today just £17,000 of the £34,000 was said to be available. The rest of the money will be raised by the sale of the Thornton’s Isle of Wight home.
Joanne Lisa Thornton, the wife of former Visit Isle of Wight CEO David Thornton, will now appear before the Isle of Wight Crown Court in March 2019.
In a statement released this afternoon, Will Myers, Managing Director of Visit Isle of Wight has said:
“Visit Isle of Wight acknowledges and respects the processes the Isle of Wight Crown Court has put in place today.
“I continue to assure our Wight BID levy payers that all monies received have been used fully and in the correct manner in line with the Wight BID structure and plans.
“We will continue the ongoing job at hand, namely marketing the Isle of Wight and bringing visitors to our shores, which annually accounts for £286 millions of economic impact’
“Visit Isle of Wight is dealing with this situation, but this is not of our making – it lies firmly at the door of Joanne Thornton, who we trusted, but she stole from the organisation”.
