Racing judge sympathises with woman who gambled stolen £½m
Marcus Leroux
A former banking clerk who gambled away £500,000 of her employers’ money was probably not expecting sympathy as she walked into the Old Bailey yesterday.
But then Sharna Baker did not know that she was coming before Judge Jeremy Roberts, QC, racehorse owner and well-known lover of the turf.
Judge Roberts, owner of the ten-year-old chestnut gelding Counsel’s Opinion (nine wins in 54 starts), told her: “I have had reservations for a long time about this internet betting. It becomes a trap. I own two horses and I don’t know when they are going to win.”
It is not the first time that Judge Roberts’s love of the turf has influenced proceedings at the Old Bailey.
He faced criticism four years ago when he went to watch Counsel’s Opinion finish 12th at Ascot on the day he had adjourned a complex kidnapping case.
At the time, he said: “I don’t think it’s at all too much to take time off because I do an awful lot of extra hours.”
While Judge Roberts professes ignorance about his horse’s finishing places, their performances suggest that he is of sound judgment in the paddock at least.
Between them they have amassed prize money of £190,000 and Counsel’s Opinion, bought by Judge Roberts for the relatively modest sum of 22,000 guineas (£23,000), has notched up notable wins at Newbury and Ascot and is reckoned to be worth several times its original price. His other horse, Master Pegasus, has just one win to its name.
Ms Baker’s record as a punter was less successful. She appeared at the Old Bailey yesterday a year after admitting nine specimen charges of obtaining money transfers by deception.
Her first taste of gambling came during an office sweepstake on the Grand National. Soon afterwards the £32,000-a-year clerk began using her boss’s password to transfer funds into her account.
When the money was in her account, Baker would immediately make wagers of up to £10,000 on races. She then started to gamble on football matches and other sporting events.
Baker was such a valued customer of some bookmakers that she was invited to several exclusive champagne race days.
Managers discovered what was happening only when Baker, a mother of one, was made redundant.
As well as taking money from her employers, the City-based Japanese bank UFJ International, she spent £90,000 of her own money.
She was up to the limit on seven credit cards and had remortgaged her flat.
Baker was caught when her employer discovered that she had invented payments for different office suppliers.
She had failed to cover her tracks by neglecting to create false invoices to account for the missing funds.
Instead, she waited by the office printer to rip off confirmations of transfers, which she then destroyed.
From July to November 2005, Baker made 127 fraudulent transactions, culminating in £150,000 of transfers in one month alone.
Last year Baker, who has three previous convictions for dishonesty, walked free with a 51-week jail sentence suspended for two years after another judge found that she suffered from a “disease”.
She was ordered to attend Gamblers Anonymous for two years but had progressed sufficiently for the order to be dropped after only 12 months.
Judge Roberts, who lists canals and opera among his interests, as well as the sport of kings, told her: “It’s nice to see that something has gone right.”
Baker still owes money to the bank, and, speaking outside court, she said that she was unsure whether she would ever be able to repay the sum.
She is planning to retrain as a hairdresser. She said: “I won’t even be having a bet on the Grand National.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 652663.ece