Telford charity boss spared jail for £18,000 fraud

Lisa Wood, 44, had previously admitted three charges of theft between 2011-13 at the Tots and Toddlers Day Care Centre in Telford.

She appeared before Judge Robin Onions, at Shrewsbury Crown Court and was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment for each offence to run concurrently.

The sentence was suspended for two years and Wood, a mother of two, was also order to complete 200 hours community payback and pay £1,000 compensation.

Mr Rob Edwards, prosecuting said that Wood, of Chiltern Gardens, Dawley, Telford, had founded the day care charity, based in Old Park in 1994. Such was its success, she was made business manager.

But he added: "In 2013, the treasurer started to have some concerns over how the defendant was managing the finances. She raised these concerns and the police were called. She was suspended.

"In interview the defendant admitted that between 2011-13 she stole £17,706.68. She detailed how she started the charity and then became the business manager but then began to experience some personal financial difficulties. This was a classic snowball theft. She was shocked to hear how much she had stolen. She said that debts has been run up by her 19-year-old son which she felt she had to clear."

Mr Thomas Schofield, for Wood, said: "She is the epitome of remorse. The offences she committed were not out of greed but out of desperation. She did not take the money to live a lavish lifestyle. She is a lady of impeccable good character. She founded the charity and initially worked as a volunteer there. She built up a business which had an annual turnover of £250,000.

"But she was in a high position of trust."

In his sentencing Judge Onions said: "You took £17,706.68 in varying amounts from a charity you founded and which became an exceptionally successful business.

"You were trusted by colleagues, parents and directors. You abused that trust over a period of time. But the motivation was not for personal gain but because of your financial difficulties. I have treated you with mercy because of the exceptional aspects of this case."