Dundee school worker jailed for embezzling more than £28,000 from breakfast club

A school office worker in Dundee was jailed for 16 months after admitting she embezzled more than £28,000 from a primary school’s breakfast club and money collected for a P7 residential trip.

Jane Duncan, 54, admitted taking £28,084.80 from Mill of Mains Primary School between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2019, the city’s sheriff court heard. The thefts were discovered in 2019 after a council accountant noted the school had not banked any income for the breakfast club since 2016.

Prosecutors told the court that Duncan used more than £11,000 of the stolen money on purchases from Amazon, buying items including PlayStation games, pet supplies and cosmetic products. Staff also discovered that money collected for a P7 trip to Ardeonaig on the banks of Loch Tay was missing. Forty-two children had paid around £200 each for the trip, but no funds were found in the school safe.

After being confronted about the missing money, Duncan broke down and confessed to two senior teachers, the court heard. She told them: "I need to tell you something. I've taken the Ardeonaig money. I've done a really bad thing. I'm going to lose my house and family. I can't go on." At her arrest she said: "That's my life over. I've ruined everything."

Jailing Duncan, Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said the thefts had threatened essential services for pupils. "Potentially the breakfast club may have had to close. It might have meant the P7 school trip being cancelled -- all for you and your family to have nice things," he said.

Duncan has not repaid any of the money, the court was told. She wept as she was led from the dock to begin her sentence.

School staff and parents were not named in court reports. The case was heard at Dundee Sheriff Court, where Duncan entered an admission to the embezzlement covering the four-year period.

Local authorities routinely audit school accounts to safeguard funds intended for pupils, and this case was flagged after routine accounting checks. The sentencing follows disclosure of the spending and the subsequent internal and council inquiries that established the scale and duration of the missing funds.

No further details were provided in court about Duncan’s employment status beyond her role as a school office worker, and there was no indication in the hearing that any money had been recovered prior to sentencing.