A single mother of three children who admitted stealing more than R400‚000 from her employer has won the first fight in her battle to stay out of prison.
Moshina Essop was sentenced in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court to 10 years’ imprisonment but only half the sentence was suspended‚ and on Monday the Supreme Court of Appeal gave her permission to appeal to the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Essop worked for law firm Stowell and Company when she stole R406‚811 from trust accounts.
Her advocate‚ Brad Osborne‚ told the appeal judges that Essop was not a threat to society and that her three children would probably end up in foster care if she was jailed‚ because her family could not care for them and their father was reluctant to do so.
Osborne also said the regional court magistrate did not give sufficient weight to pre-sentence reports suggesting Essop was suitable for correctional supervision.
It was the second time a Stowell and Company employee had stolen from trust accounts. In 2012‚ legal secretary Candida du Plessis admitted stealing R1.2-million from the firm’s trust accounts between 2008 and 2011.
Single mom who stole R400‚000 fights for her freedom
A single mother of three children who admitted stealing more than R400‚000 from her employer has won the first fight in her battle to stay out of prison.
Moshina Essop was sentenced in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court to 10 years’ imprisonment but only half the sentence was suspended‚ and on Monday the Supreme Court of Appeal gave her permission to appeal to the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Essop worked for law firm Stowell and Company when she stole R406‚811 from trust accounts.
Her advocate‚ Brad Osborne‚ told the appeal judges that Essop was not a threat to society and that her three children would probably end up in foster care if she was jailed‚ because her family could not care for them and their father was reluctant to do so.
Osborne also said the regional court magistrate did not give sufficient weight to pre-sentence reports suggesting Essop was suitable for correctional supervision.
It was the second time a Stowell and Company employee had stolen from trust accounts. In 2012‚ legal secretary Candida du Plessis admitted stealing R1.2-million from the firm’s trust accounts between 2008 and 2011.
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