6 May 2014

Ex-principal, husband get detention

7:11 pm on 6 May 2014

A principal and her husband who admitted stealing from a decile one school will serve their home detention in their inner-city apartment.

Colleen Margaret Gray was sentenced to 12 months' home detention and her husband Bruce Kenneth Gray received 10 months when they appeared at Auckland District Court on Tuesday.

They pleaded guilty to charges of dishonesty using a document and using a forged document.

Judge Rob Ronayne had said he would send the pair to prison if they did not make full reparations of $27,000.

The couple admitted cheating decile one Mayfield Primary School in Otara by using the husband's company to file false invoices in the names of fictitious teachers.

The wife also admitted using the school's credit card and chequebook to pay for three separate trips to Australia.

Judge Rob Ronayne described the offending as a gross breach of trust and said it was cynical because she knew the struggles faced by a primary school in South Auckland.

He said the victim impact statement from the school said she was the key person to uphold values of honesty and respect and now the children know her as a common thief.