NNSL (Jan 10/97) - A woman whose actions were described Wednesday by a territorial court judge as "weaving an incredible web of lies" to cover the theft of cash and cheques has been sentenced to 12 days in jail.

Territorial court judge Michel Bourassa sentenced 41-year-old Gabrielle Amero to 12 days in jail, placed her on probation for one year and ordered her to complete 160 hours of community service work in the next three months.

"With the amount of cash involved, I find it difficult not to impose a custodial sentence," said Bourassa.

Court heard that the woman stole about $24,000 over a prolonged period from ICG Propane, where she worked as a receptionist and handled company deposits.

Crown lawyer Scott Cooper asked Bourassa to sentence the woman to nine months in jail.

However, defence lawyer Sarah Kay suggested the sentence could be a "non-custodial" one that took into consideration exceptional circumstances in the case.

Kay told court Amero was driven to the crime by "psychological elements" that she is now addressing.

She added that restitution had been made to the company and under recent federal legislation now in place, the courts have the option of allowing offenders such as Amero to serve a conditional sentence in the community instead of jail.

Bourassa said he saw nothing exceptional about a woman who stole money from her employer and used it to buy plants, a dog, and to hold a party.

"We can padlock the doors and protect ourselves from break-ins, but we can't protect ourselves against people we trust," said Bourassa.