SCOTLAND
BBC News
A Catholic priest has been jailed for 10 months for stealing £96,000 from his parish in North Ayrshire to fund an online gambling habit.
Fr Graeme Bell, 41, embezzled the cash from St Mary’s (Our Lady, Star of the Sea) in Saltcoats between March and May 2015 to play online roulette.
He left the parish in June last year after financial irregularities were reported to police.
Bell, of Kilwinning, was jailed after he admitted a charge of embezzlement.
‘Breach of trust’
Sentencing him at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, Sheriff Alistair Watson told the priest: “This is a very significant breach of trust and a substantial amount of funds.
“All the difficulties you have did not remove your free will – as an intelligent being you deliberately undertook the actions you undertook.
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