Kempe to finance her cocaine addiction, was yesterday sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Canadian Marilyn Anne Dill, 39, apologised for her crime and pledged to repay the money, but the Chief Justice said she'd committed a serious breach of trust.

Mr. Khamisis Tokunbo for the Crown told the court that over a nine-month period Dill had stolen the money in a "methodical and calculated manner'' by falsifying documents to obtain cheques and US dollar drafts from the firm.

After her arrest on December 20 last year, Dill told Police she had spent the money on cocaine -- a habit which cost her thousands of dollars a week.

Mr. Tokunbo said that the accused obtained the majority of the money while working as an executive secretary for lawyer Mr. Philip Chesterman.

She first started stealing in January 1993 when she forged two payment requisitions totalling $582 in the name of Mr. Chesterman for restaurant expenses.

And over a two-month period she obtained five US dollar drafts amounting to more than $24,000 by forging Mr. Chesterman's initials and debiting the firm's general client account.

Mr. Tokunbo said Dill continued to forge requisitions, debit client accounts and forge Bermuda and US dollar cheques until she was arrested. He said the cheques were either deposited in bank accounts belonging to her boyfriend or cashed at the Shopping Centre.

Mr. Archibald Warner, defending, told the court that the crime was not a simple case of greed but one stemming from Dill's addiction to cocaine. He said that in cases where substantial amounts of money are stolen the actual figures were irrelevant. "There is nothing magical about the numbers,'' he said.

Before Chief Justice the Hon. Austin Ward passed sentence, Dill made an emotional speech to the court: "I've hurt a lot of people because of my past and not facing my problems and using a drug to forget them. After my prison term is up, in the eyes of the law, I have been punished, but when I leave prison I will still be punishing myself and trying to forgive myself for the crimes that I have done.

"I sincerely mean that I do wish to pay them back. To some it may seem impossible but it is something that I must do for myself and my reputation. It may take years. It may take my lifetime, but I will do it.'' Mr. Ward said he had taken into account Dill's drug dependancy and her desire for professional help as well as her desire to make amends and her offer to repay the money. But for a crime involving a serious breach of trust the sentence could not be less than 15 months.