A NURSE who embezzled thousands of pounds from a disabled children’s charity to fund his out-of-control gambling habit has avoided a jail sentence.

Alan Thorburn was working with the Dreamflight charity as a fundraiser when he began transferring money into his own bank account.

Thorburn, of Fullarton Bank, Tranent, was spending thousands of pounds on gambling and stole a total of £17,106 of charity funds to help finance his addiction.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that the medic had paid all the money back after he had been caught and was now attending “a gambling support group” in a bid to halt his obsession.

Dreamflight is a charity that takes children with a serious illness or disability on “holidays of a lifetime” to Orlando in Florida and states that the excursions can be “life-changing” for the youngsters involved.

Thorburn, 40, pleaded guilty to embezzling the charity funds over a three-year period during an appearance at the Capital court last month and was back in the dock for sentencing on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Nurse embezzled £17,000 from disabled children’s charity

Lawyer Mary Moultrie told the court that her client had now “addressed his gambling habit” and had “not lapsed” since seeking help from a gambling addiction organisation.

Sheriff Charles Walls said: “You must understand you have been convicted of a serious matter.

"You accessed the charity bank account and used funds to fund your gambling addiction.

“However, you do accept full responsibility for your actions and I accept you are remorseful and the money has been paid in full.

“The taking of the money from a charity is a serious matter and the custodial threshold has been reached, but I am persuaded there is an alternative to custody in this case.”

Thorburn was sentenced to a community payback order where he will have to carry out 280 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Previously, the court heard that Thorburn was asked to get involved with the charity by a former colleague who had worked with him when he was employed as a nurse at a children’s hospice.

He soon volunteered to help out with fundraising activities and began managing the charity’s bank account for his local area.

The court was told that Thorburn and a second volunteer opened up a Barclays bank account to deposit the fundraising cash but discrepancies were discovered around February 2018.

The nurse was confronted about cash transfers into a second account by a charity manager and was said to have “given some answers but then stopped” all communication.

Prosecutor Gillian Koran said that the charity’s bank account was checked and it was found that “most of the money in the [Barclays] account” had been “transferred into an account in the name of the accused”.

Ms Koren said: “He explained he had difficulties gambling and that he had taken out a loan to pay it back and that he is attending a gambling support group.”

The fiscal said that Thorburn had taken a total of £17,106 from Dreamflight for his own use and he had paid back all the money taken from the charity in September 2020.

Thorburn pleaded guilty to embezzling £17,106 while working as a volunteer with the Dreamflight charity, based in Buckinghamshire, between January 2015 and March 2018.

The Dreamflight charity was founded in 1986 and has funded more than 6,000 children who suffer from a disability or serious illness to go on “a holiday of a lifetime” to Orlando.

The charity flies the children on a privately hired aircraft along with a team of adult volunteers including doctors, nurses and physiotherapists.

Dreamflight has also taken small groups of seriously ill and disabled children to fully-accessible activity centres in the UK.

Dreamflight was contacted but did not wish to comment.

Following Thorburn's sentencing, Lynne Barrie, procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said: “This was a shocking breach of trust by an employee who was responsible for managing funds raised by a children’s charity.

“The money which Alan Thorburn stole was donated by members of the public in good faith, intended to be used to take children with a serious illness or disability on a holiday of a lifetime.

“The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is committed to tackling financial crime and ensuring that those who commit offences against vulnerable individuals are brought to justice.”