A hospital worker who lent money to a colleague before ripping her off has avoided a jail sentence.

Loan shark Malai Gambrill, from Chatham, gave £3000 to a friend who repaid back £4,650 but was told by the 54-year-old she still owed a further £3,000, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Lucy Luttman said the agreement had been to pay back the amount monthly with a £5 per £100 borrowed rate - which equals around a 60% interest rate.

She explained: "The woman who borrowed the money, after her husband stood as an informal guarantor, was told that the only way to stop the interest being charged was to repay the full £3000 in a lump sum.”

The prosecutor said for 31 months - between November 2016 and June 2019 - the victim paid Gambrill £4,650, only to be told she still owed £3000.

She later complained to police who launched an investigation and police raided Gambrill's home and discovered notebooks, banking books and mobile phones.

Ms Luttman said the records revealed unauthorised lending, including cash loans and a pawning service where she offered money for gold.

Gambrill, of Ingle Road, Chatham, was given a 30-week jail sentence suspended for a year and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after admitting unlawful money lending.

She was arrested at Medway Maritime Hospital in September 2020 and an investigation into her finances revealed about she had loaned about £80,000.

Ms Luttman added there had been no violence, threats or undue pressure to repay - which are usually elements associated with "loan sharking".

Recorder Clare Ambrose told Gambrill she had run a "well organised and sophisticated set up" without a licence - despite claiming she didn't realise what she was doing was illegal.

Gambrill is now facing an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act.