The accounts chief of a catholic educational trust, which runs four private London schools, was spared prison yesterday despite helping herself to nearly a quarter of a million pounds belonging to the organisation she worked for.
Accountant Melanie Goodwin, 57, of Abingdon, even enjoyed a grace-and-favour apartment in a listed 18th century building in London.
Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon QC ordered Goodwin to wear an electronic tag and imposed a six-month night-time curfew. But he imposed a suspended sentence, saying: ‘That was a hairline decision that would be seen by many that you have got away with a serious crime.'
Mother-of-two Goodwin pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud by abuse of position against PACT (Parents, Children & Teachers) on various dates between 1 February 2010 and 29 August 2014. The sums in the individual charges are £28,632.21; £61,948.63; £66,843.38; £51,024.92 and £37,274.13.
‘It was a substantial sum of money per year and they (PACT) talk of reputational damage,’ added the judge. ‘It's such a sad case. The word 'betrayed' is used in the victim impact statement. There is a huge breach of trust here.’
PACT runs four private schools - Oakwood School, Purley; Oliver House Preparatory School, Clapham Cedars Secondary School in Croydon and Balham's Laurels Secondary School.
Prosecutor Richard Hutchings said: ‘She had full access to PACT's internet bank accounts, the cheque writing and was responsible for the payroll and expenses.’
She was exposed by an enquiry into a suspicious £378 expenses claim that was paid to an account called 'Premium' which was her unsuspecting husband's bank account.
Goodwin has repaid £60,000, plus her £15,000 redundancy pay-out and PACT has a £155,000 charge on the family home, which is up for sale.
The investigation by detective constable Kerry Wood of the Metropolitan Police's complex fraud squad revealed Goodwin made herself 129 fraudulent payments in four years.
Her lawyer, Jake Taylor, told the court: ‘It was spent on large credit card debts, not on an extravagant lifestyle. She has sought to pay every penny back and has not filed for bankruptcy and has been making amends for her actions.
‘She has remorse, regret, shame,' he said of the first-time offender. ‘She is doing all she can to ensure harm to the PACT trust is minimised. She initially took a small amount and intended to pay it back and it spiralled.’
Judge McKinnon told Goodwin, who could have been jailed for a maximum of ten years: ‘This was a systematic course of criminal offending when you were in a senior position at this charity. You were essentially the head of finance at that trust, responsible for all financial matters.’
Goodwin was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service work. She must pay £500 cost and a £100 victim surcharge.
PACT chair of governors Eleanor Leonard said: ‘There is a real sense of betrayal that remains 18 months after we discovered she was stealing from the charity.’