A CHURCH treasurer who embezzled more than £70,000 from a Port Seton church has been jailed for 18 months.

Pensioner Janet Farquhar transferred the church funds into her own bank account over an eight-year period while she was in charge of finances at Chalmers Memorial Church.

The OAP took a total of £72,155.34 – including more than £12,000 of collection plate donations – and attempted to cover up her scam by forging bank statements during a subsequent investigation into the missing cash.

Farquhar, 70, admitted embezzling the cash at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month and returned to the dock for sentencing on Monday.

READ MORE: OAP embezzled £72,000 from church

Solicitor Colm Dempsey, defending, said his disabled client had repaid £15,000 to the Church of Scotland and planned to sell off her home to pay the balance off.

The court was told that Farquhar began taking the church cash while she was still in employment in 2008 and she had spent the bulk of the money on home improvements.

The brief added that Farquhar was “deeply ashamed and remorseful” over her crime and a jail term would a “have a more profound effect on her than an able-bodied person”.

But Sheriff Peter Braid told Farquhar, of East Lorimer Place, Cockenzie: “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, let’s not forget, 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.”