'I hate sending women to prison': Judge tells office manager, 30, who used her company credit card to buy £38,000 worth of designer clothes and holidays he will spare her jail

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A woman has avoided an immediate jail term after spending tens of thousands of pounds of her company's money as the judge told her he didn't like sending women to prison.

Sophie Franklin, an office manager, spent nearly £38,000 on her company's debit card spending the cash on designer clothes, make-up, and sunglasses for her and her friends.

The 30-year-old spent £7,000 on taxis and more than £14,000 on mobile phones and bills between January 2014 and August 2016 while working for Circle Square Agency based in Bermondsey, south east London.

Sophie Franklin was spared jail after spending £38,000 on company credit cards when working for a south east London advertising agency

But at her sentencing at Inner London Crown Court, a judge told her he preferred not to send women to prison when they had not been behind bars before.

She was jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to one count of fraud.

After taking the plea at a previous hearing Judge Owen Davies QC told her: 'I hate sending to prison women who have not been to prison before and who have been convicted for the first time of a criminal offence.

Judge Owen Davies said he did not like sending women to prison if they had not been before, so spared her an immediate sentence

'It should not be possible to buy yourself out of an offence.

'It seems to me it would be difficult for me to suspend the sentence.

'I think it is an offence that crosses the custody threshold, the question is if that should be immediate or not.' 

His comments come just days after a different judge came under fire for telling an Oxford student who had stabbed her boyfriend that she might be ‘too talented’ to go to prison. 

Franklin also splashed more than £1,500 on flights and hotels abroad including to Rome, St Lucia and Hong Kong.

Franklin also spent on Apple products, items from John Lewis and theatre tickets - all at the company's expense.

Her fraud only came to light after she left for a new job and her replacement began to cross check and audit invoices Franklin had been responsible for.

Inner London Crown Court heard the total loss to the company, including the cost of the audit, was £37,997. 

As office manager she was responsible for booking travel and accommodation for staff, ordering stationary and authorising expenses.

The court was told the fraud and 'breach of trust and responsibility' had a 'substantial' financial impact on the company.

Gerard Renouf, prosecuting, said: 'The offence is sophisticated in nature as there had been significant movement of paperwork to cover her tracks.'

The court heard she has now paid back just over £34,000 to her old employer but had lost her full-time job.

Since her last hearing she has been working part-time in several jobs including as a temporary admin assistant and a waitress.

Paul Renteurs, in mitigation, said there was 'genuine remorse' from his client and that she wanted 'to put right the wrong she had done'.

Sentencing Franklin, Judge Davies QC, told her the offence 'was a very serious matter' and the cash appropriated was a large amount of money.

He said: 'Over a period of two years to when you left the firm in August last year, you used their money to rack up personal expenditure of your own to the sum of some £37,000.

Franklin used her position as an office manager, responsible for booking company travel, to book herself holidays

He said the total included the cost to the company of an audit of the books which 'reflected the damage to this firm'.

He said: 'You used your position to use the funds to live a life beyond what you were paid for.'

The Judge said it was to her credit that she has been able to repay £34,000 back to the firm since her scam was uncovered.

He said: 'I hope this the last time you will appear before the criminal court. I perceive you have learnt a lesson and become a lot more mature since these fraudulent transactions.'

Judge Davies QC said 'nothing would be achieved at all' with a custodial sentence.

He said: 'The punitive effect should not be the incarceration of a woman of nearly 31.

'She should be out in the community where you belong, expunging your crime by unpaid work.'

Franklin, of Basildon, Essex, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years for one count of fraud.

She was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work and to pay back the final sum in compensation to her former employer.