A church worker who stole almost £100,000 from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster has avoided an immediate prison sentence.
Southwark Crown Court heard that Francisca Yawson, 37, made nine bank transfers to herself between September 2018 and August 2019, while employed in the central London division of the diocese. The mother of four from Stonebridge Park in Brent worked as a gift aid and operations technician.
Yawson had previously pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft. The court was told that the stolen funds could have supported the homeless and food banks - but instead went towards funding Yawson's personal life, including items from John Lewis, and payments totalling £8500 to her grandmother in Jamaica.
The thefts began with a payment of £247, and escalated to a single transfer of nearly £20,000. Prosecutors said dates and amounts matched transfers to Yawson’s personal accounts.
Judge Mark Weekes told Yawson: "All in all, you were funding yourself to a reasonably good standard of lifestyle – grossly and dishonestly." He added that it would be on her "conscience" that children may have gone hungry "while you were helping yourself to a high lifestyle".
The judge highlighted a "shocking" delay in the case, after police wrongly closed the investigation between 2021 and 2025, which he said contributed to a "different outcome". Judge Weekes said that, had sentencing for her "meanness and selfishness" taken place in 2019 or 2020, Yawson would likely have received an immediate custodial sentence. "You are lucky because of the passage of time," he added, urging her to reflect on "the very real damage you caused to people less fortunate than you".
A statement from Nicholas Seed, chief financial officer for the diocese, read: "The harm caused by [Yawson's] actions therefore reverberates beyond this courtroom to every corner of our community."
Defending, Ryan Evans said Yawson had lost her job and was now on universal credit, and that the proceedings, combined with having a newborn, had been "very difficult".
Yawson was handed a suspended sentence of two years in prison, and ordered to pay £1,000, complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and undertake 15 hours of a rehabilitation requirement.