THE jobs of 34 employees were put on the line by a crooked accountant who embezzled nearly £43,000 from a family firm.

Douglas McAllister took advantage of the serious illness of the owner of Mandors to siphon off money he used to treat his mistress.

The sleazy father-of-three made sex tapes in a hotel room he paid for using the company credit card.

In a victim impact statement given to the court, Karen Deutsch told how devoted church member McAllister had nearly sunk her company after 40 successful years in business.

As told in later editions of last night’s Evening Times, McAllister narrowly dodged a jail sentence after borrowing cash to pay back the Deutsch family.

Mrs Deutsch, who opened the Renfrew Street haberdashery in 1977 with her husband Michael, wrote: “The impact that Douglas McAllister’s actions created on our business was, and continues to be, profound and far reaching.

“From being a profitable company at the end of each financial year, losses were experienced for three year in a row and at the end of 2015 the loss was over £50,000.

“It was frightening to think that after nearly 40 years of successful trading, the business was in jeopardy of going bankrupt.”

McAllister was brought in to help at the family firm after Mrs Deutsch became ill.

The married father-of-three began an affair with a colleague 14 years his junior, who features in the sex tapes he left behind in the Mandors office.

He abused the family’s trust by stealing money by writing cheques to cash and diverting BACS transfers from customers to his personal account.

The 48-year-old also went on a spending spree with the company credit card, buying items such as a car, a £1300 lawn mower and expensive meals and hotel stays.

It was a crime Sheriff Kenneth Hogg, who sentenced McAllister at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday, called: “Particularly mean spirited.”

Mrs Deutsch had suffered an aneurysm and then went on to endure bronchitis before being diagnosed with heart failure.

Her victim statements adds: “The future of the firm and the jobs of 34 employees were on the line and I feel we were lucky to have discovered his misdemeanours just in time to pull the business back from financial ruin.”

McAllister had his head in his hands as he waited to appear in the dock, letting out a relieved sigh when Sheriff Hogg told him he would avoid jail.

His family, including his wife and brother, were both in court to give him their support.

The court heard McAllister has recently lost his job and that his wrongdoings have led to health, family and financial strain.

However, he was able to borrow £43,000 to repay Mr and Mrs Deutsch, which helped him stay out of prison.

Sheriff Hogg said: “This was a particularly mean spirited crime. You took advantage of a medical crisis in a company to embezzle a significant sum.

“This wasn’t an isolated incident; this was a well thought out, premeditated crime.

“Your personal reputation is in tatters and you have let down a significant number of people by your own hand.

“This was an appalling breach of trust.”

The embezzler will wear a tag for six months, keeping him at his home between 6pm and 6am seven days a week.

He is ordered to complete 275 hours of unpaid work in the community within six months and he will be supervised by social work for 18 months.

The toll the case has taken on Mrs Deutsch, however, continues.

She added: “As well as robbing us financially, he has also robbed us of the opportunity to retire. I am approaching my 68th birthday and, still in ill-health, I am working four days a week.

“My husband is working six days a week and we both have been working for no salary for the last two-and-a-half years to bring the business back to a stable financial condition.”