Exclusive:Woman who stole £30,000 from youth football club could repay club in full, court told
The court heard she could pay “some, if not all” of the money back to the club.
A fraudster who took thousands of pounds from a football club - leaving them on the brink of collapse - has walked out of court after a change of circumstances.
Waltham Wolves FC, a club with 21 youth teams that play across Hampshire, found itself with empty coffers in 2023, after Crystee Faithfull spent two years raiding club accounts for personal gain.
Training in Swanmore and Waltham Chase, the boys and girls teams often come up against fellow youth teams from the likes of Baffins Milton Rovers and Gosport Borough FC.
Crystee Faithfull, 44 from Southwick Road, Wickham, was charged with one count of fraud by false representation. The court heard how she made multiple personal transactions using club funds, to the tune of around £30,000.
Faithfull indicated a guilty plea at Portsmouth Magistrates Court in June, and was sent to Portsmouth Crown Court for sentencing, where she appeared today (Friday, September 18).
But her lawyer, Alec Williams, suggested that the sentence could instead be deferred - with Faithfull in a position to give some, or all, of the money back to the club.
He said: “At the heart of this case is the loss to the club, of a figure in the region of £30,000. I anticipate your honour would be keen for the club to get its money back.
“Faithfull is the beneficiary of a will of her step-father’s, and his estate includes a house and some monies. In short, she has on the horizon a real prospect of having sufficient funds to pay a substantial amount, if not all, of the losses to the club back.
“I’m told the property is with the estate agents but not on the market yet.
“Were the money to be able to be paid in full, that would have an impact in a variety of ways, not least on sentencing guidelines in terms of the losses to the club.”
The court was told that the case would have to be put on hold for at least six months, with the defendant also required to produce a copy of the will at the next hearing.
Presiding over the case, Recorder Roger Harris said: "Deferrment can only be up to a year, whereas an adjournment can be any length of time.
“What I’ll do is adjourn the matter for six months.”
Faithfull will next appear in court on March 18 next year.
Sources at the club have said that it was “at real risk of collapse” after Faithfull’s actions, although it is now on an even keel again.