A church worker who stole nearly £100,000 from the Diocese of Westminster to fund her “high lifestyle” has been fined £1,000.

Francisca Yawson, 38, stole from charity donations between September 2018 and August 2019.

The mother of four had been employed as a “Gift Aid and Operations Technician” at the Roman Catholic diocese, which included Westminster Cathedral, since 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She bought her family presents from John Lewis and transferred £8,500 to Jamaica to help pay medical bills for her grandmother.

Yawson, of Stonebridge Park, north-west London, admitted nine counts of theft totalling £96,331 at Southwark Crown Court.

‘Deeply saddened by betrayal’

In an impact statement, Nicholas Seed, the Diocese’s chief financial officer, said: “The gift aid money stolen is not an abstract number of a spreadsheet. Her actions reverberated beyond this courtroom into every corner of our community.

“We are deeply saddened by Ms Yawson’s betrayal and the harm it has caused to our charitable mission.”

Sentencing Yawson, Judge Mark Weekes referred to a 2021 conviction for defrauding her partner’s mother of £16,000.

“It might be thought that once bitten twice shy, but it would appear not,” the judge said. “It seems that temptation overwhelmed you again for reasons that are not entirely clear.”

Yawson claimed that she stole the money to support her grandmother in Jamaica who suffers from leukaemia but the judge said the money she had sent there was “dwarfed” by the amount “you spent on yourself”.

‘Small children went hungry’

In October, Judge Weekes was forced to postpone sentence as Yawson was about to give birth to her fourth child.

The judge said that people in need missed out on money from charitable donations because of Yawson, adding: “Small children, like the ones you look after, went hungry or more hungry while you helped yourself to a high lifestyle.”

Ryan Evans, defending, said Yawson felt remorse and knew she had done wrong. He added that removing Yawson from her three-month-old baby would have a “detrimental impact on both parties”.

Judge Weekes said Yawson did not “present a high risk of reoffending or harm” despite her previous conviction.

Referring to “shocking delays” in the case, which was brought in 2019, he sentenced her to two years in prison suspended for two years.