A former football executive who admitted embezzling £10,000 from Stirling Albion FC has been warned she could be jailed after failing to comply with a court order.
Laura Downes, 44, pleaded guilty last month to embezzling the money from the Scottish League Two club while she was its football administration manager. Sentence had been deferred for background reports, with Downes ordered to cooperate with social workers preparing them.
But the single mother-of-one had not done so in time, Stirling Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday.
Defence plea for more time
Defence lawyer Ken Dalling pleaded for her to be given further time to “engage” with criminal justice social workers. He said: “It appears that despite my advices to her she has simply been overwhelmed by the process and by the time she made contact it was too late.”
Sheriff Euan Gosney continued bail until September 9, and told her it was only because she was a first offender and because of the “inevitable impact” that a remand would have on her child that he was prepared to give her another chance to cooperate. He said: “If you don’t do so the court will simply remand you in custody in order to have reports prepared.”
Details of embezzlement
Downes embezzled the money from the club – known as The Binos – at its ground, Forthbank Stadium in Stirling, on October 1, 2024. No details have yet been given as to how she siphoned off the money, or what she spent it on. The prosecution will now narrate the facts at the September hearing.
A spokesperson for Stirling Albion said at an earlier stage: “We are not willing to comment at this time as it is a live ongoing case.”
