Jade Evans, 43, defrauded a dog charity she was a member of out of £15,000 to feed her gambling addiction The trustee and treasurer of a dog charity stole more than £15,000 after gaining control of the charity's bank account to fund her crippling gambling addiction. She tried to conceal the fraud through lies but eventually messaged another charity member to say she had "done something terrible". Jade Evans, 43, was a member of the Japanese Akita Welfare Trust, which helps dogs of that breed by rescuing and rehoming them. In 2023, the member responsible for overseeing the charity's banking affairs was moving abroad and the defendant enthusiastically volunteered to take over that role. A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard Evans, of Ferndale, Rhondda , became charity treasurer and was described as being "persistent" in getting possession of bank details. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here She travelled from South Wales to Birmingham to collect banking material from the outgoing treasurer. Prosecutor Bethan Evans said there was more than £15,000 in the charity's bank account at the time the defendant took over the finances. But concerns were raised after the amount in the account was reduced to just £41.55. Evans claimed she had transferred funds to another account and was in the process of setting up a new bank account for the charity. She was asked to return the money and she sent screenshots purporting to show the money had been moved back to the original account, but the images showed the banking app asking the defendant if that was the amount she wished to transfer before the transfer had taken place. The decision was made for charity member Joanne Turner to take over the charity finances but Evans failed to send her the relevant documentation. Jade Evans took over the role of treasurer at the Japanese Akita Welfare Trust and stole thousands from the charity (Image: Mirrorpix) She made excuses that members of her family were in hospital or the postmaster had left for the day. Ms Turner remained concerned and contacted Action For Fraud before travelling to south Wales to see the defendant the next month. Evans gave Ms Turner banking documentation and claimed kennel fees had been paid up but Ms Turner later realised that the bank card was missing. She returned to the address and was given the card by the defendant but the chip appeared to have been deliberately scratched. During her journey home, Ms Turner received a text message from the defendant in which she said she had "done something terrible". She admitted taking money from the charity account as she was having "family issues" and needed help to cope after her husband had suffered a stroke. Evans said she had not used the money for frivolous expenses such as holidays but had used it towards bills for her home. She said she felt "disgusted" and was "terrified" about what would happen. Investigation of the account revealed a lump sum of £13,600 had been removed and transferred to the defendant's account and there had been 33 smaller payments, bringing the total amount to £15,262. It was also revealed that kennel fees had not been paid since she had taken over the finances for the charity. Evans, of Albany Street, later pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. The court heard she was of previous good character. Reading out a victim personal statement to the court, Ms Turner said: "We have suffered tremendously. This was a serious breach of trust and has had a big impact on the Akitas we couldn't help as we couldn't afford to. Our funds reduced from a substantial amount of money to pennies and we had to pay back kennel fees. "It's been truly heartbreaking, we have all shed a tear, not just trustees but volunteers across the country. To steal from a charity is just beyond, I don't understand why and how sh
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