Treasurer stole £6,000 from scouts
A MIDLAND scout troop almost had to cancel its annual trip after the treasurer of the group stole all their cash.
The funds set aside were ‘systematically siphoned off’ by Karl Locke – who tried to blame someone else for his crime, Birmingham Crown Court heard. Locke, 41, become treasurer of the 87th Holy Trinity Scout Group in Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire in January 2016.
The group had almost £6,000 in its account – but it was all taken by Locke who left it £36 overdrawn. Locke, of Grosvenor Place, Newcastle under Lyme, admitted theft. He was jailed for 16 months suspended for two years, ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work, pay £5,752 compensation and £1,500 costs.
Judge Martin Hurst said the motivation for the theft was “greed”. He told Locke: “You became, perhaps reluctantly, treasurer of the group. It was a charity and this charity survived, like so many do, from hand to mouth.
“You decided that the £6,000 or so that they had in their account belonged to you and not to them.” Matters came to light when the annual trip had to be paid for.
“You had already spent the money so a person helping to run the group stepped forward and supplied £1,600 out of her own pocket so that the scouts were not bitterly disappointed,” the judge said. “Ever since then you have not paid back a penny to her and you have not paid the scouting group a penny.”
Judge Hurst said Locke had “prevaricated and delayed” and had even sought to blame someone else who had been helping to manage the group. He said it was a serious breach of trust and the only reason he was not sending him to jail immediately was for the sake of his wife and children.
Sophie Murray, prosecuting, said: “Locke systematically stole money from the scout group by writing cheques to cash and making withdrawals from the bank account.”
He also carried out the fraud by forging the signature of someone else who helped to run the group. William Douglas-Jones, defending, said: “He had good character before and since.”