A 53-year old woman imprisoned last year for stealing more than $30,000 from British American Insurance has been given a further 180 days to pay back the money or potentially face further prison time.

Karen Irvina Cross was sentenced to six months in August last year and was scheduled to pay the $31,675.60 back by February 1 ? an obligation under the Proceeds of Crime Act which was not fulfilled.

At a hearing in Supreme Court yesterday afternoon in front of Chief Justice Richard Ground, Crown counsel Graveney Bannister asked for a further six months to be added to her sentence, a submission hotly contested by Cross's lawyer Delroy Duncan.

Mr. Justice Ground ruled in favour of the defence, saying he did not believe the delay was excessively protracted or malicious.

However, Mr. Bannister yesterday made it clear he would be making a further application for an extended sentence if the money is not paid into the Confiscated Assets Fund within the specified time.

In her trial last year, Cross admitted stealing some money from her employers after they had refused to cover the cost of her extensive medical bills ? although she disputed the amount she was charged with.