Ballarat policewoman stole thousands from netball club to feed pokies habit
A POKIES-LOVING policewoman who previously represented Australia has avoided jail after pilfering almost $9000 from her local Victorian netball club to feed her gambling habit.
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EXCLUSIVE: A pokies-loving policewoman has avoided jail after pilfering almost $9000 from her local netball club to feed her gambling habit.
Renee Deanne Hulls was a sergeant at Ballarat police station when she stole the money from the Melton Football Netball Club in October 2014.
Hulls, an avid netball player who represented Australia at the 2010 indoor Tri-Nations Cup in South Africa, was handling the club’s finances when she stole $8655.70.
She also scammed $800 from the owner of the Melton Indoor Sports Stadium, after she lied about losing her purse in the change rooms while umpiring on October 25, 2014.
He helped search for her purse, which she claimed contained $800 cash, and then gave her that amount to help her out until she found it.
She later falsely reported it stolen at Melton police station.
Police initially charged her with 40 fraud and theft-related offences.
But almost four years on and facing Sunshine Magistrates’ Court this month, Hulls wiped away tears as she pleaded guilty to just five charges due to a prosecution deal.
Those included obtaining financial advantage by deception, obtaining property by deception and making a false report to police.
Magistrate Therese McCarthy said the fact Hulls, 41, had served 16 years in the force, including four as a prosecutor, meant she should have known better.
“In my opinion, your actions were aggravated due to your position in the police force,” Ms McCarthy said, remarking how Hulls may have prosecuted people who had committed similar offences.
She told Hulls: “(You) effectively deceived people around you that trusted you.”
The 2010 police athlete of the year was “desperate”, the court heard, because she had racked up thousands of dollars of debt through gambling, mostly on poker machines, and on credit cards. She has since repaid all of the money stolen from the netball club.
The court ordered her to repay by September the $800 given to her by the sports stadium owner.
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An emotional Hulls, who recently resigned from the force, declined to comment outside court.
She was convicted and placed on an 18-month community correction order. That will see her undertake 180 hours of unpaid community work and receive treatment and for her gambling addiction and mental illness.