A cosmetic clinic manager who stole £44,000 to pay for treatments so she could keep up with her glamorous colleagues has been ordered to pay back just £1.
Rebecca Le-Clercq has been given 28 days to pay the paltry sum to River Aesthetics otherwise she will go to prison for a day.
The 36-year-old spent almost a year stealing money from the private beauty clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset.
She deposited cash payments from clients into her own bank account and then spent it on treatments worth thousands of pounds.
They included anti-wrinkle injections and fat-freezing and hydrafacial sessions.
It was said that she suffered from ‘imposter syndrome’ when she started working alongside ‘beautiful and confident women’ and felt pressure to look like them.
As well as the treatments, Le-Clercq also spent the money on a luxury lifestyle beyond her means.
The mother-of-two had trips to five star hotels and Center Parcs and spoilt her children with riding lessons.
Cosmetic clinic manager Rebecca Le-Clercq (pictured outside Bournemouth Crown Court), 36, who stole more than £40,000 to pay for treatments so she could ‘look perfect’ and fit in with her ‘beautiful’ colleagues has avoided jail
Rebecca Le-Clercq (circled) with her former colleagues at River Aesthetics in Bournemouth
She posted photos of her escapades on social media to make herself look good.
Le-Clercq was caught when the clinic’s accountant notified owner, Dr Victoria Manning, of a cash shortfall.
She at first denied the theft before suddenly walking out of the clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset, leaving a resignation letter behind.
She was given a suspended prison sentence last year at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting theft.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing has now taken place to determine how much of the stolen £44,198 Le-Clercq can pay the clinic back.
The court previously heard that she received universal credit and wages through a part-time job which totalled more than the £1,900 a month she got working full time at the clinic.
But she was ordered to pay back the nominal sum of £1 following discussions between her solicitors and prosecutors.
Judge Susan Evans KC told her: ‘Miss Le-Clercq, the benefit figure for this case is £44,198.26 but it has been agreed that the available amount to pay is one pound.
Le-Clercq was the practice manager for award-winning River Aesthetics (pictured), a private beauty clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset
Rebecca Le-Clercq is pictured here arriving at Bournemouth Crown Court
‘It may just be one pound but I will give you 28 days to pay it as things can happen that delay it. If it is not paid then it will lead to one day’s imprisonment.’
The owners of the award-winning River Aesthetics declined to comment on the matter.
Her thieving took place between April 2022 to March 2023.
Amber Atwill, defending, told the court at a previous hearing that Le-Clercq felt she needed to ‘look perfect’ to fit in.
She said: ‘She had imposter syndrome, surrounded by a luxury brand, beautiful, confident women yet she did not feel worthy.
‘It changed when she had money, she felt like she fit in and she could post on social media.
‘She started having treatments her colleagues were having. It made her feel better, she was front of house and felt like she needed to look perfect.’
In sentencing her, Judge Robert Pawson described her as ‘living in cloud cuckoo land’.
He said: ‘I don’t see a scintilla of remorse, I see someone who became addicted to that shallow, consumer culture and addicted to spending money on fripperies.’
