A FORMER treasurer of Cylch Meithrin Penparc, near Cardigan has been jailed for a fraud that brought the Welsh-language nursery to its knees.

Catrin Davies, a 33-year-old single mother of two daughters, cheated the organisation out of £16,336.

After she left the post, the nursery struggled to pay debts and at one stage was left with £1.84 in its bank account.

Davies, of Bwthyn Lleine, Ferwig, admitted fraud and was jailed for eight months.

Judge Geraint Walters, sitting at Swansea Crown Court, told her the offending was too serious for the sentence to be suspended.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said Davies was appointed treasurer in September 2015, and left the post in December 2016.

The new treasurer noticed discrepancies in the accounts.

Davies tried to cover them up by sticking pieces of paper onto bank statements to blank out figures, photocopying them, and then carefully typing in new and bogus figures.

By then Davies had failed to pay money into the account and withdrawn some herself.

Mr Jones said that at one stage the nursery had to pay a roof repair bill. Davies knew there wasn’t enough money in the account, but to keep the fraud going and to avoid detection she actually paid the bill out of her own money.

Mr Jones said after the true financial situation had been established, Cylch Meithrin Penparc was at risk of closure. Internet access was cut off because the telephone bill could not be paid and staff found themselves buying essential items out of their own money.

And there was still a fear, he added, that the nursery would struggle to overcome the blow and to regain the confidence of parents.

Janet Gedrych, representing Davies, said she had suffered a devastating fall from grace.

Davies ran the Pink Orchid florists in Priory Street, Cardigan, for nine years and had a good reputation in the town.

But her partner left her and his debts behind and ran up more, and she owed £30,000 in personal and business debts, the court was told.

By October 2015 debt collectors were knocking on her door and she defrauded Cylch Meithrin Penparc to pay them off.

Judge Walters said the nursery provided a hugely valuable service to parents who wanted their children to learn Welsh and Davies had helped herself to money they had paid in.

“Your activity has reduced its ability to operate. It has not closed but it’s hanging by a thread,” the judge said.

Judge Walters said he accepted that Davies had found herself squeezed financially, but said many people struggled under similar circumstances.