Christchurch pub manager sentenced for stealing $75,000 from safe

A former venue manager at The Craic Irish pub in Christchurch has been sentenced to nine months of home detention. Sophie Perniskie, 33, pleaded guilty in June to a representative charge of theft by a person in a special relationship. The theft occurred between April 2024 and early February 2025.

Perniskie stole approximately $75,000 from the pub's office safe and tills. She used the funds for groceries, gambling on pokie machines, and to purchase a car, which cost $15,000. A pre-sentence report indicated the offending was driven by a gambling addiction and past trauma.

The thefts were discovered after the pub's then-owner noticed financial discrepancies in 2024, followed by an operations manager finding altered banking sheets in early 2025. Security footage subsequently showed Perniskie taking cash from the safe and tills.

Judge Katie Elkin ordered Perniskie to pay $5,000 to the victims to cover their insurance excess and $3,000 to the insurer. She must also make weekly payments of $40 to the insurer for the next three years. Perniskie had already repaid $20,000 to the pub, with the insurer covering the remaining $55,000.

Where reports differ

• Reports differ on whether the cash was taken from the office safe or the tills

Compiled from reports by The Press, Stuff, NZ Herald and RNZ.