Charity chief denies rip-off of murdered soldier’s boy
A CHARITY fundraiser who recruited celebrities to raise money for murdered Lee Rigby’s son has denied using the profits to make a single with his band.
Gary Gardner, 54, is accused of keeping the money raised from truck-pull events that he staged in aid of Fusilier Rigby’s six-yearold son Jack.
Gardner put on three such events in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in the Leicestershire towns of Medbourne and Market Harborough.
They were attended by thousands of people, including Fusilier Rigby’s widow Rebecca, 33, and Jack.
Gardner, of Medbourne, yesterday denied three charges under the Fraud Act when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court.
The first charge was that between May 2013 and February 2016 he abused his position as a trustee of money charitably donated in aid of Jack Rigby, by failing to account for the total monies donated.
The second was that between May 2013 and February 2014 he abused his position as a trustee of money donated in aid of Jack Rigby, by using the money to pay for producing a music single.
The third was that between May 2013 and an unknown date he abused his position as a trustee of money charitably donated in aid of Jack Rigby, by failing to transfer any donated money to Jack Rigby.
Judge Michael Chambers QC gave Gardner unconditional bail and ordered him to return to court for trial on October 2. Music, media and event specialist Gardner manages a band called Together In Harmony which, he says, is a “group of up-and-coming artists from all over the UK” supporting many charitable causes. He claimed on his Linkedin profile that the band released a “charity single” which was “raising funds for the Fusilier Aid Society and a trust fund for Fusilier Lee Rigby’s son”. But it is alleged that the youngster never received a penny from the events. Jack was two when his father was killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale in a terror attack outside Woolwich barracks in southeast London in May 2013.