Fraudster is accused by judge of 'deliberately' getting pregnant to avoid prison - then is allowed to walk free from court

Imogen Glyne is seen leaving court on Friday. She was given a suspended prison sentence for taking part in a swindle after she became pregnant

A woman fraudster was accused by a judge of 'deliberately' getting pregnant to avoid prison - and then allowed to walk free from court.

Imogen Glyne took part in a £70,000 swindle targeting advertising giant M&C Saatchi while working in the accounts department at Transport for London.

The 26-year-old is five months pregnant and conceived after she was arrested.

She would have given birth in prison if given the 12-month term the judge, Recorder Jonathan Laidlaw, said she deserved.

But he said he did not want a child to start its life in jail and instead handed down a suspended sentence.

The judge told her: 'You became pregnant in June of this year, after your arrest.

'I do harbour the gravest of suspicions that that was done deliberately with these proceedings in mind.

'However much you deserve to go to prison, I am not prepared to have a child start his or her life in a prison in London.'



Miss Glyne was recruited as an 'insider' by accomplice Nicholas Simpson, 23, who was beside her in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and jailed for a year.

The accounts administrator, whose daughter is due in March, had worked as for Transport for London for just six months when she committed the fraud.

At his behest she forged two letters requesting a change of bank details for two contractors, M&C Saatchi and another firm Frankham Consultancy Group, due for payment by TfL.

They bungled an initial bid involving Frankham when the wrong sort code was entered but took £65,000 on their next attempt with M&C Saatchi.

The judge said: 'It was a clever scam which took advantage of inside knowledge that you had achieved as a result of your agency employment at TfL.

'You used forged changes of bank account instructions to change the account details of suppliers due to be paid by TfL.

'The result was that money was diverted to bank accounts opened and operated by Mr Simpson.'



However, Simpson only managed to get away with just over £8,800.

When he tried to transfer the rest into three other accounts, bank staff suspected something was wrong, made inquiries and discovered the fraud.

Miss Glyne admitted one fraud offence but denied two counts of obtaining money transfers by deception in late 2006 and was convicted following a trial while Simpson admitted two fraud charges.

Judge Laidlaw said: 'Frauds of this sort and of this scale which involve in addition, in the case of Miss Glyne, a gross breach of trust upon your employer, must be met by custodial terms.'



But he said he felt compelled to suspend Miss Glyne's prison term, to avoid her baby being born in HMP Holloway.



He added: 'It will add to the burdens on the prison service.

'Of course they would cope, but it will make things difficult - the resources for caring for expectant mothers are not perhaps as extensive as they might be.'



He also gave her two years' supervision, and 150 hours' unpaid work.

Bespectacled and wearing a black cowl-neck jumper and black leggings, Glyne, of Thamesmead, South East London, wept as she walked free, while Simpson, of Canning Town, East London, buried his head in his hands.



