BNZ Teller of the Year in 2006, South African-born Shelley Anne Williamson (25), unemployed, of Hawea, was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court yesterday to nine months' home detention, after pleading guilty last month to three charges of theft and a dangerous driving charge.
Counsel Nic Soper said Williamson had suffered "two great traumas" in her life which had led to perfectionism, inability to express emotion, low body image and an eating disorder.
He said she had learnt "to divorce herself from feelings" so she had not felt guilt until forced to confront it on September 22 at Wanaka Airport, when BNZ Wanaka manager Penny Ford discovered Williamson had removed $73,883.19 from an in-house foreign currency revaluation account between May 2006 and August 2008.
Williamson had also cleared bank accounts of a couple believed to be dead - each containing about $30,000.
Mr Soper said Williamson had wanted to own up to Mrs Ford, but in a victim impact report Mrs Ford felt Williamson "played a game with her" that day - forcing her to witness a suicide attempt when Williamson left and accelerated into an oncoming vehicle in which Timaru couple Sean and Amanda Cleverley were travelling on State Highway 6.
No-one was injured, despite Mrs Cleverley being seven months pregnant.
Mr Soper said Williamson acted irrationally when her "bubble [of denial] had burst" and she was truly remorseful.
"She is now a convicted criminal . . . an anxious young woman," he said.
Crown prosecutor Sarah McKenzie sought two years' imprisonment for the three theft charges and dangerous driving charge, but Judge Phillips said home detention was the usual penalty in similar cases.
On the three theft charges, Williamson was sentenced to a total of nine months' home detention.
For dangerous driving, she was sentenced to 200 hours of community work, with reparation of $21,766 for damage to the Cleverleys' vehicle.
Bank of New Zealand external relations manager Diane Maxwell later issued a brief statement on behalf of Mrs Ford, who attended the sentencing.
Mrs Ford said the branch was a "close-knit team".
"This betrayal of trust has affected us deeply."
Processes had been in place to prevent fraud but they were now under review to discover how Williamson, who had since been dismissed, had concealed her actions for so long.
