Alix Ashby in court last month. Photo / New Zealand Herald
Alix Ashby in court last month. Photo / New Zealand Herald
The daughter of an Outrageous Fortune star will take her case to the High Court after being sentenced to home detention last month.
Alix Ashby, 28, whose father Kirk Torrance played Detective Sergeant Wayne Judd in the hit West Auckland drama, ripped off marketing company Brand Spanking - where sheused to work as a talent booker - for $25,000.
She was slapped with a 10-month term of home detention, 275 hours of community work and ordered to repay all the money she stole, but she is now appealing her case.
"What you did was not just stick your hand into the till and put the money in your pocket. It was an elaborate, sophisticated, well thought-out process to channel money into your own bank account," Judge David Harvey said.
The case took an indirect path to sentencing after Ashby pleaded guilty, sacked her lawyer and then attempted to change her guilty plea before finally accepting responsibility.
Nearly three years after she suddenly stopped turning up for work, director of Brand Spanking director Vivian Bryant thought the nightmare was finally over.
She received a cheque for $10,000 at the sentencing hearing from Ashby's stepfather but now the appeal had been lodged all orders made by Judge Harvey were suspended.
"It's hard to move on from it when it keeps getting dragged up," Ms Bryant said.
She said the former employee had never apologised for what happened.
"It's like she's in denial for what she actually did. It feels like she thinks she's above the law."
Ashby - who was referred to as "Torrance" in court - worked for Brand Spanking from May 2011 to July 2012.
Only weeks into the job, she began siphoning money into her own accounts, making it look as though she was paying contractors on behalf of the business.
She said she was addicted to methamphetamine at the time but Judge Harvey said that was "far in the background".
"You had the opportunity to access your employer's computer system and you took those opportunities for your own selfish circumstances," he said.
Ashby will appear in the High Court at Auckland this week when a date will be set for her appeal.
