A former bank employee who stole $421,000 from a client's pension account to pay her school fee, was spared incarceration when she appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court last Friday.

Chloe Reynolds, 24, from Queensborough, St Andrew, was slapped with a fine after Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey was apparently touched by seeing her sick father crying in court.

"It is only for your father's sake why I am not sending you to prison today, but this is going to follow you like a bad odour, don't try it again." RM Pusey warned Reynolds who was charged with larceny and breaches of the Cyber Crimes Act.

A no order was made on the larceny charge but she was fined $10,000 or six months on the other.

father weeps

Reynolds father, who was ill, wept when he saw his daughter in the deck preparing herself to be sentenced.

Defence attorney Diane Edwards told the court that the father has already repaid the bank the stolen funds and that her client has sent in her resignation. Edwards pleaded with RM Pusey to be lenient with Reynolds as she is from a reputable family and has no previous convictions.

She said the father is just recovering from a stroke and Reynolds' mother is also ill, which is why the family could not afford the accused school fees.