A great-grandmother in the UK stole ￡115,000 ($150,000) from the region’s biggest independent archaeology charity, which caused the organization to call off some of its major projects.

avoiding prison time due to her poor health

Pamela Bent used the money to deal with her gambling debts, taking it from the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) over a period of 19 months when working as the charity’s treasurer. She received a two-year suspended sentence for the fraud, avoiding prison time due to her poor health.

The 65-year-old came clean about the theft to Norfolk police, saying she borrowed the money to meet her mortgage payments. Bent repaid about half the sum before the fraud was uncovered. She still needs to pay back ￡61,000 ($79,787), and the court is mandating she sell her residence to raise the remainder of the funds.

Talking about the fraud’s impact on SHARP, the charity’s excavation director, Dr. Eleanor Blakelock, said the lack of money meant it had to put off major projects, and the team’s trust in Bent “has been completely torn to shreds.”