A CHURCH treasurer who was jailed for stealing more than £70,000 from her local congregation has repaid the cash after her son sold his house.

Janet Farquhar banked £72,155.34 of church funds into her own account over an eight-month period while she was in charge of finances at Chalmers Memorial Church in Port Seton.

The pensioner was jailed for 18 months at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in April after she admitted embezzling the cash.

But the 70-year-old was released from prison just weeks later pending an appeal against her sentence, which is due to be heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh today (Tuesday).

A proceeds of crime hearing regarding Farquhar’s case took place at the Capital’s sheriff court last Friday and was continued to yesterday (Monday).

The court heard that Farquhar had repaid £70,000 to the Church of Scotland which had been accepted as full payment of the sum embezzled by the treasurer.

Farquhar was due to sell her own family home at East Lorimer Place in Cockenzie to fund the repayment but the court was told that the property currently had an inhibition order placed on it by the Crown and could not be sold.

But the OAP managed to raise the cash after her son and daughter-in-law sold their own home to fund the repayment of the sum back to the Church of Scotland.

The hearing had been continued to yesterday for Sheriff Peter Braid to hear confirmation that the £70,000 had been received by the Church of Scotland.

The Crown confirmed that the Church had been repaid in full and that the proceeds of crime action against Farquhar was being deserted.

Last Friday, solicitor Ewan Gosney, told the court: “The money embezzled has been repaid in full. The money has been repaid by the sale of the accused’s son and daughter-in-law’s property.

“That is where the money has come from because there is an inhibition order against the accused’s property and she is not in a position to sell.

“It is the intention that once the inhibition [order] is lifted and the property can be sold, the proceeds will go back to her son and daughter-in-law.

“It is coming from her own funds, albeit indirectly.”

A Church of Scotland spokesperson said: “We welcome the return of £72,000 of the funds that were taken from the congregation and will await with interest the result of justice running its course.”

Farquhar was appointed treasurer of Chalmers Memorial Church in March 1999 and began taking thousands of pounds of kirk funds in 2008.

She paid cheques totalling £59,752.34 into her own Royal Bank of Scotland account and took the remaining £12,403 from church collections given by parishioners.

In jailing Farquhar in April, Sheriff Braid said: “This was a gross breach of trust, not only the trust placed in you by the Church of Scotland but also by your fellow congregation members.

“The sum you embezzled was more than £72,000, including more than £12,000 you failed to bank in church collections.

“There are mitigating factors including your age and state of health and I also accept there is a prospect of repayment and you are not likely to reoffend.

“However, in my opinion there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”