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Charity fraudsters sentenced to sixteen years after "electronic" trial

REVENUE & CUSTOMS PROSECUTION OFFICE News Release (PN07/004) issued by The Government News Network on 7 June 2007

Three men and two women were sentenced today at Manchester Crown Court to a total of 16 years imprisonment after being convicted of Cheating the Revenue of approximately £250,000 and stealing thousands of pounds in cash from "Catch", a charity set up to help children with brain injuries.

Trevor England, the senior administrator and founder of the charity, received a sentence of 6 years in prison, having pleaded guilty to Cheating the Revenue by claiming £650,000 through fraudulent gift aid repayments. England, 61, also admitted one count of theft, having stolen substantial amounts of cash from the charity. England's accomplices, Donna Siddaway, Andrea Glancy, Paul Johnson and Mary Johnson, all pleaded guilty to one count of PAYE fraud, resulting in an estimated loss to the Revenue of more than £250,000.

Mary Johnson was also charged with two counts of theft of monies, where she took advantage of the lack of records of donations coming into the charity's office to help herself to many thousands of pounds in cash. She maintained a not guilty plea throughout the trial, alleging that the cash was generated from horse racing. Johnson, 60, was found guilty by a jury on 24 April 2007. She was sentenced today to 7 years in prison for her part in the group's activities.

In all fraud cases reams of paper are generated and in this case alone there were over 20,000 pages of supporting evidence. Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office reviewed, prepared and presented all the evidence in this case electronically. This saved time and reduced the cost to the public purse of the overall Prosecution.

Lawyers presented the case by showing documents on screens as they delivered their arguments. This allowed details to be explained to the jury using a media format with which they are familiar and meant that evidence could be shown and discussed without the need to reproduce hundreds of paper files.

Senior RCPO Lawyer Kathleen Harris said "RCPO will continue to use cutting edge technology in the presentation of its most complex cases in order to bring criminals to justice. The excellent result in this case proves the success of that strategy."

Notes for Editors:

1. Details of defendants:

Trevor John England
Dyfed
DOB: 21 December 1946
Capacity: Charity founder and senior Administrator
Offence Pleaded guilty to Count 2 & 5 (Theft)
Sentence 6 years

Mrs Mary Johnson
Warrington
DOB: 9 January 1947
Capacity: Senior Administrator (Fundraising)
Offence Pleaded guilty to Count 1 (PAYE)
Found guilty by jury of Count 2 & 4 (Theft)
Sentence 7 years

Mrs Andrea Glancy
Manchester
DOB: 22 April 1962
Capacity: Senior manager (fundraising)
Offence Pleaded guilty to Count 1 (PAYE)
Sentence 2 years

Paul Johnson
Warrington
DOB: 12 July 1974
Capacity: Senior employee (fundraising) son of Mary Johnson
Offence Pleaded guilty to Count 1 (PAYE)
Sentence 12 months

Donna Siddaway
Warrington
DOB: 04 April 1965
Capacity: Senior employee (fundraising) daughter of Mary Johnson
Offence Pleaded guilty to Count 1 (PAYE)
Sentence 200 hours Community Service Order

2. The Revenue & Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) was created by Royal Assent on 18 April 2005. An independent prosecuting authority, RCPO is superintended by the Attorney General, and is responsible for prosecuting some of the largest drug and fraud cases in the UK.

3. Catch (Care and Action Trust for Children with Handicaps) was registered as a charity on 29 August 1972 (registered charity number 501833).