An admin worker, 63, who stole £80,000 from an NHS trust and sent it to her online boyfriend in Nigeria has avoided prison, only getting suspended sentence.

Hyacinth Blair, of Lewisham, London, took the cash from the South London and Maudsley trust over roughly 18 months, from June 2021 until January 2023.

She sent the withdrawn funds to a man living in Nigeria named ‘Michael Okafor’, who she had entered into a relationship with online.

The administrator said he had ‘demanded’ the money, ‘pressuring’ her to send it and leaving her feeling ‘helpless’, though ‘concerned’ about stealing, reports MailOnline.

When first questioned, she initially said she ‘had no idea’ why she stole the money before confessing it was for her foreign lover.

Blair, from Lewisham’s Forest Hill area, admitted fraud by abuse of position and has been jailed for two years at the Old Bailey – but this sentence was fully suspended.

Now unemployed and on universal credit, she will undertake 250 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation and a six-month mental health treatment.

In suspending the sentence, Judge Lynn Tayton KC noted the fraudster suffers from depression and had ‘some prospects of rehabilitation’ from her crime.

She emphasised Blair stealing the money, intended for public services, had made her colleagues and community highly distressed.

The judge explained: ‘There had to be through review of financial controls and there has been an effect of on the council’s reputation.

‘Incidents like this undermine confidence in the council’s systems.

‘The consequences of your actions will be felt for long time and the impact on staff and the community was severe.’

She continued: ‘In my view, there was sustained dishonesty not only explained by pressure or mental health issues.’

Judge Tayton added: ‘This involved planning and abuse of trust.

‘But you have no previous convictions and references speak of positive good character. You are remorseful.

‘I am sceptical about some of the explanations but you have never been in prison before and there are some prospects of rehabilitation so I am prepared to suspend sentence.’

The judge urged: ‘You are fortunate. Be very clear, if you come back before this court you will go to prison.’

More than £106million was lost to romance fraud in the UK last year, according to the latest police figures.

And reports of such crimes have increased by a disturbing nine per cent in the last year, according to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).

Nearly 10,000 instances of romance fraud were reported across the country in the 2024/25 financial year, with victims each losing on average £11,222.

Romance fraudsters create fake identities and build an online relationship with a victim – before claiming some kind of emergency and asking for money.

These crimes are designed to exploit people’s trust and emotions for monetary gain.

• MailOnline