Cambridge con artist
University don faked archaeological digs to pocket £220,000 of lottery money
a ‘SHAMEFUL’ Cambridge academic stole more than £200,000 of Lottery money by applying for funding for bogus archaeological projects.
Wolfson College fellow David Barrowclough, 48, claimed he was setting up historical digs or organising heritage trails to bring history alive to the public.
He created false references using colleagues’ names and forged invoices over a period of eight years to pocket £223,000. The money was used to pay for the mortgage on his home in ely, Premium Bonds and an alfa romeo sports car.
His professional reputation was in ruins yesterday when he was jailed for six years after a jury found him guilty of eight counts of fraud and one of deception. it also emerged that he had previously been struck off as a solicitor and jailed for four years for pocketing clients’ money.
Sentencing him, Judge Peter mur- phy said the way Barrowclough traded on his fellowship to carry out the ‘sophisticated and sustained’ deception had been ‘particularly shameful’. ‘i draw the conclusion that you are a man who will stop at nothing in the financial sense to make a gain for yourself,’ he added.
The director of studies in archaeology at Wolfson College began the fraud in 2005. He applied for funding for nine different academic projects.
Colleagues would often be asked to give their support at the start of the application process but would not be consulted further, leading them to believe that the funding had not been granted.
in other cases he would forge their names on letters in support of projects which they had no idea existed. Barrowclough would also forge invoices to persuade the Heritage Lottery Fund to hand over extra cash. His actions only came to light when ely museum curator elie Hughes opened a letter confirming payment of £18,500.
Barrowclough – who became a trustee of the museum in 2009 – had once brought up the idea of an origins of ely exhibition with staff but the court was told that they had heard no more about the scheme.
The other trustees then contacted HLF, and confronted Barrowclough at a board meeting in april 2012 where he denied being dishonest and claimed the money was not for personal gain. The HLF explained that it had not been aware of Barrowclough’s criminal record as it awards applications to organisations, not individuals. a spokesman said: ‘We will also be pursuing allegations of fraud.’
Barrowclough, who is unmarried and has no children, did not comment on the case after he was sentenced at Huntingdon Law Court in Cambridgeshire.
But a Wolfson College spokesman said: ‘Dr Barrowclough was suspended from his duties as soon as the college was made aware of the charges against him, pending the outcome of his trial. now that a guilty verdict has been reached, the college will be taking appropriate action.’