Christchurch Bar Manager Sentenced to Home Detention After Taking $75,000 From Irish Pub

^{Christchurch District Court, where Sophie Perniskie was sentenced on 4 November 2026. (Photo: Michal Klajban / Wikimedia Commons)}

A former manager of The Craic Irish Bar in Christchurch has been sentenced to nine months' home detention after stealing $75,000 from her employers over ten months. Sophie Perniskie, 33, was sentenced at Christchurch District Court on 4 November 2026, the NZ Herald reported. The court heard she spent money on a car, groceries and pokie machines.

Pokies are a familiar feature of New Zealand pubs and clubs, and the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) regulates the sector, as shown when it searched a Christchurch pub over a pokies grant body in September. This case is a criminal prosecution rather than a gambling-regulation matter, but it turned on how the money was spent.

How the Thefts Came to Light

Perniskie began working at the bar in 2022 and was later promoted to manage the venue. The owners noticed discrepancies in the financial records in 2024 and began investigating. By January 2025 they had spotted altered financial figures, and CCTV footage showed her taking cash from the tills.

She pleaded guilty in June to a representative charge of theft by a person in a special relationship. The thefts totalled $75,000 over ten months.

What the Judge Said

Judge Katie Elkin told the court that Perniskie was spending hundreds of dollars a week on pokies and groceries, and that she took $15,000 to pay for a car. ‘You took money intending to repay but got out of control,’ the judge said.

The judge also said the impact on the victims had been very significant and that they felt a breach of trust. A pre-sentence report found the offending was driven by gambling addiction and past trauma. Defence lawyer Kerry Cook said Perniskie had been assessed as at low risk of reoffending and had completed counselling for gambling and mental health issues.

The judge said the impact on the victims was ‘very significant’ and that they felt a breach of trust.

Repayments and Sentence

The court heard that Perniskie repaid the owners $20,000 in February 2025 and had a further $8,000 she could repay within a month. The pub's insurer covered the other $55,000.

Judge Elkin sentenced her to nine months' home detention. She was ordered to pay the owners $5,000 to cover their insurance excess and $3,000 to the insurer, plus $40 a week to the insurer for three years. If paid in full, the weekly payments alone come to $6,240.

The charge, theft by a person in a special relationship, is used where the offender holds a position of trust over the victim's property. Here, Perniskie was the venue's manager, with access to the tills and the financial records.

Gambling money has been under scrutiny in New Zealand in other ways this year. The DIA recovered $11.5m for pokies communities and suspended an operator, and our pokies hub tracks the machines, operators and rules that apply across the country.