Bingo Thief Under House Arrest

North-side bingo hall manager pleads guilty to stealing money, receives conditional sentence.

A former manager of a Canadian bingo hall was placed under house arrest yesterday after admitting to the theft of $14,000 CDN of charity-bound proceeds. Terry Joan Aikens, aged 58, pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000, and was given a 12-month conditional sentence. The stolen money was allegedly used to support Aiken's gambling.

Provincial court Judge Peter Caffaro was just, granting house arrest for the first six months, and then a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the remaining six months. In addition to her conditional sentence, she will also perform 60 hours of community service.

The thefts had occurred between December 1, 2006, and May 25 2007. Aikens stole the money from the concession account, in varying denominations (anywhere from one to three thousand dollars), for a total of $14,000. She was finally caught by an audit performed by the AGLC, or Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission in May.

Although Aikens had stolen large amounts of money, her defense lawyer said "Aikens used the money to gamble, but always repaid it."

Aikens' lawyer, Geoff Green, told the court, "Aikens had lost her husband of 36 years the previous year to cancer and was left with nothing but an alcoholic 30 year old son, which resulted in her becoming depressed."