Fraud

An accountant has admitted stealing at least £34,700 from a brain injury charity to pay off a supermarket credit card bill.

David Field, of Glewstone, near Ross-on-Wye, pleaded guilty to several fraud charges at Hereford Crown Court on Monday.

The court heard how Field, who was employed by Herefordshire Headway as an accountant, siphoned off the charity’s funds to pay off debts on a Tesco credit card debt and council tax.

The 56-year-old failed to tell the charity that he had a previous criminal conviction for fraud and falsely claimed to have a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification.

Judge Daniel Pearce- Higgins QC heard how Field also spent the charity’s money on a stay at a London hotel and various “unattractive uses of the card”.

The frauds were committed between April 2010 and January 2011.

Field took at least £34,796 from the charity, which works throughout Herefordshire to rehabilitate those afflicted with brain injuries induced from strokes and accidents.

The judge said the court could take into consideration the £9,000 salary Field was paid, making the total over £43,000.

Field was granted bail until the end of November when he is due back in court sentencing.