A GP practice manager who stole more than £500,000 from her NHS employer and spent it on designer goods and a Tesla has avoided prison because UK jails are "full to bursting," a court heard. Helena Paiva, 33, admitted defrauding the Albion Street Practice in Southwark, London, of £517,260.29 over two and a half years by disguising fraudulent payments to herself as regular expenses in the practice's records. The case highlights ongoing concerns about capacity pressures in England's prison system influencing sentencing decisions even in cases involving substantial, deliberate fraud.

Paiva, of Boxley, Kent, carried out the scam between January 2023 and July 2025, spending the money on items including a Tesla sports car, a flatscreen TV, and designer clothing from Hermès, Christian Dior and Selfridges, with some purchases still arriving when police searched her home. She was given a suspended sentence at Southwark Crown Court by Judge Christopher Hehir, with only around £7,000 recovered so far and a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing set for 10 February. Former colleagues described feeling "stabbed in the back," saying the theft had put the practice at risk of closure and deprived it of funds meant for doctors' overtime.