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).