University dean and lover jailed for £500,000 scam

A former university dean and his secret lover who fraudulently gained £513,000 from their employer and spent it on home improvements have each been jailed for five years by Liverpool Crown Court.

Robert Smedley, 52, created a role for Christopher Joynson, 34, both of Frankby Road, West Kirkby, when he was dean of the education faculty at Edge Hill University in Lancs and transferred large sums of cash into his account. Smedley did not declare the relationship and failed to carry out background checks on his partner, which would have revealed Joynson had received police cautions for lying on job applications.