Invercargill bar manager avoids prison after $48k cigarette theft

Video / NZ HeraldA highly trusted assistant manager who stole $88,000 worth of cash and cigarettes from an Invercargill bar has avoided prison and won’t have to repay what she took. Sandra Maree Waddick, 58, was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention in the Invercargill District Court this morning after she pleaded guilty to two charges of theft in a special relationship. In June last year, the Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT) investigated discrepancies in the cigarette stock levels at Waddick’s workplace. She said it started when she would take a packet of cigarettes and pay for them on pay day. That escalated to stealing two or three packets a week and ultimately she took $48,637 worth of cigarettes since 2014.