Man City executive jailed for stealing £100,000 to pay for wedding

The former employee has been sentenced to 18 months in prison

A former Manchester City executive has been jailed after she was found guilty of stealing more than £100,000 from the club to pay for her wedding. Fiona Barclay, 33, worked as a business development manager for Man City as part of the football club's hospitality department, earning up to £30,000 a year. However Barclay will now have to serve an 18-month sentence after she told police that she used the stolen money to pay for her wedding and buy 'gifts' for her husband and family. The Manchester Evening News reported that Barclay cried during the hearing before being sent to prison. Manchester Crown Court heard that Barclay was caught out after accountants flagged a suspicious transaction in which a refund of £25,000 was issued in March, 2021. Prosecuting, Ellen Shaw said that the numbers caused suspicion "by the fact it was a large round number" which Barclay admitted was an "error" before apologising. Barclay admitted depositing £15,000 into her own bank account before returning it to the club but further investigations revealed she had been had been siphoning money from the club since June 2019. In total the 33-year-old stole more than £104,000 with City still waiting for another £89,000 to be returned to the club. Defending, Patrick Buckley appealed for Barclay to be spared from being sent to prison, highlighting that she had moved from her family home in Scotland to work. "It seems that being hundreds and hundreds of miles away from home, isolated and lonely, solace was sought in retail therapy," he said. "The problem was that the retail therapy was at the expense of her employer." Related links:

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