A Canberra bureaucrat who gambled $25,000 of Commonwealth money will not see the inside of jail cell.
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Timothy David Deacon, 27, thought he had conquered his gambling addiction when he joined the Defence Department in 2011.
But a relapse in 2012 led to him being charged with 17 counts of misusing and attempting to misuse a Commonwealth credit card.
Deacon pleaded guilty to the offences and appeared for sentence in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday. The court heard Deacon had the addiction under control with the help of professional counselling when he was issued with the credit card in 2011 to cover work-related travel expenses.
Instead he used the account to punt on poker machines.
The Conder father stole a total of $25,000 in 16 transactions over a four-week period between August and September 2012. The withdrawal fees and charges took the total Commonwealth loss to $25,496.75.
Deacon's spree ended on September 12, when he tried to withdraw money a further four times but failed as the card had been cancelled.
He confessed to his supervisor later that day and then wrote a letter of apology to the departmental chief, describing the offences as a "dreadful lapse in judgment".
He made full admissions in an interview the following month.
Defence lawyer Bruce Levet urged magistrate Robert Cook to deal with the matter via a non-conviction order. Mr Levet said his client had suffered extensive extrajudicial punishment through the loss of his job and likely discharge from the Army Reserve.
Deacon had already voluntarily repaid $6000 to the Commonwealth, the lawyer said.
The court heard Deacon had been in a precarious financial position since leaving Defence, trying to pay back almost $60,000 in gambling debts on a courier driver's wage.
Mr Levet said his client had taken full responsibility for his crimes and had handed over control of the family finances to his wife.
"Steps have been taken to ensure he has the maximum opportunity to not relapse into problem gambling," Mr Levet said.
But the Commonwealth prosecutor argued a non-conviction order would be "manifestly inadequate and inappropriate".
She said a suspended jail sentence was the appropriate punishment if the magistrate accepted defence submissions on Deacon's character.
"He gambled his future with the Defence Department and Army Reserve away," the prosecution said.
Mr Cook sentenced Deacon to six months jail, to be fully suspended upon entering a 15-month good behaviour order. The magistrate also ordered the offender repay the stolen money and provide his fingerprints for inclusion on a police database.