Trustees stole from children's charity

Two trustees of a children's cancer charity have been convicted of stealing about £250,000 from donations given by the public.

Deborah Munro, 39, and Ian Dyke, 37, stole the money from the Hands of Hope Children's Cancer Fund between November 1997 and December 1998.

Munro, of Beckton, east London, was convicted of three counts of theft and Dyke, of Manningtree, Essex, was convicted of one count of theft.

The jury at Oxford Crown Court deliberated for five and a half hours before returning unanimous verdicts.

Records seized

The charity held an estimated 1,500 collections outside stores and shopping centres throughout London, Kent, Essex, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, the jury heard.

These raised at least £250,000, Nigel Daily, prosecuting, said.

But less than £12,000 was paid into the charity's bank account and only £5,000 went to children's cancer relief.

A single day's collection in Kent raised more than £3,000 which, Mr Daily added, "gives some idea of the generosity of the British public when they are confronted by people asking them to contribute to a child's cancer charity."

Financial records were seized at the registered charity's offices in Ilford, Essex, and at the defendants' homes after a joint operation by Thames Valley Police and the Charity Commission.

False picture

These "gave a totally false picture" of the scale of the collections and made it impossible to say exactly how much money was stolen, Mr Daily told the jury.

He said the pair ran the charity "as a business of ripping off the public".

Munro wept as the jury returned unanimous verdicts.

Munro and Dyke were released on unconditional bail for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.

Sentencing is due to take place at Oxford Crown Court in three weeks.