School finance manager stole £70,000 leaving pupils without computers and pens
A school finance manager who siphoned away £70,000 into her own accounts leaving pupils without key resources has been jailed for two years.
Wendy Gill stole the money from Bramcote Church of England Primary School in Nottinghamshire, over a six-year period.
The 61-year-old hid her crime by telling the headteacher, Sarah Meredith, finances at the school were ‘tight’.
It meant the 210 pupils a the school often had to go without items such as computers, pens and glue sticks.
It got so bad, that at one point a parent-teacher association had to donate money to buy reading books.
Gill’s crimes came to light in 2022 when governors discovered the school was projected to be in a deficit of £21,158 – more than three times the figure Gill had told Ms Meredith.
The local authority carried out a financial investigation, which showed serious financial discrepancies.
A police investigation was then launched and Gill was suspended in June 2022. She resigned seven days later.
Detectives discovered £70,581.51 had been fraudulently transferred from the school’s accounts into Gill’s three accounts between April 2016 and June 2022.
Gill admitted fraud by abuse of position but refused to say why or what she spent the money on.
On Tuesday Gill, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was jailed for two years and one month at Nottingham Crown Court.
Sentencing Gill, Recorder James Bide-Thomas said: ‘Everyone at Bramcote School feels betrayed.
‘It was plainly a close-knit community as shown by the number of people who have attended court to watch you be sentenced.
‘There was no money for new computers, new toys and there was a limit on the number of pencils and glue sticks that could be purchased.
‘Funds to maintain buildings were not spent in that fashion, leading to the deterioration of those buildings.”
Gill was the school’s business manager and had responsibility for managing staff payroll, ordering supplies and administering the bank accounts.
Prosecutors said she was a ‘well-liked’ and ‘trusted’ member of staff who repeatedly abused her position.
In a statement read out in court, headteacher Sarah Meredith said: ‘The biggest impact of all has been on the children of the school.
‘We now know that due to the deception and selfish acts of Mrs Gill, the children over a number of years have missed out and suffered from being unable to access essential resources.
‘I feel deeply that depriving our children of this money is totally abhorrent.
‘For years as a school we tried our very best to give our children, as our school motto advocates, ‘Life In All its Fullness’.
‘However, we were given constant reminders from Mrs Gill that the budget was ‘tight’ and we should ‘be careful’ with our spending.
‘This is advice that we all took on board and as a result limited our spending.
‘She was trusted by everyone and we all believed that the advice she gave us was in the best interests of the school, while the children were always at the centre of her thinking.
‘Her mantra was that “We’re the best!”. However, in June 2022 our trust and perception of her was completely shattered.”
Gill’s defence solicitor said she felt ‘utterly ashamed’ of her crimes and is selling her house to pay back the money.
Police Staff Investigator Marie Slater, of Nottinghamshire Police CID, said: ‘Wendy Gill was a well-liked member of staff and had good relationships with school staff, governors, parents and children.
‘She was trusted implicitly but betrayed the school in a manner that caused immense shock and emotional distress.
‘Her deception and selfish acts deprived children of essential resources and left the school struggling to balance the books, putting jobs at risk.
‘No doubt Gill would have continued had the school not worked out what was going on and reported the matter to police.’
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