‘Peter Kay’ conman in guilty plea over fraud

Peter Stead claimed he was Danny Kay – the brother of Phoenix Nights star Peter – when he offered to put on comedy nights in the Derby, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire areas.

Police said 50-year-old Stead, of no fixed address but previously from Mackworth in Derbyshire, was working as a conman under the ruse of fundraising for the Lewis Mighty Fund, a charity raising money for a young boy in Nottingham, who died from an aggressive form of cancer last year.

Stead was given cash by the landlords to secure the booking. But when he failed to deliver, police became suspicious.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud at Derby Crown Court yesterday, and was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing on June 21. Officers had been searching for Stead since 2009.

Barbara Cathcart, chief executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity which runs the Lewis Mighty Fund, described Stead’s actions as “beyond disrespectful” to Lewis’s memory and the work of his family and supporters.

She said: “It is truly deplorable that he would use the name of a brave young cancer victim for his own gain.

“We’d like to reassure all our supporters that we have strict safeguards against fraudulent fundraising and would ask that anyone who has concerns about someone claiming to fundraise for the Lewis Mighty Fund contacts us directly, to ensure the fund-raising is legitimate and genuine.

“We’d also like to thank the thousands of people who have proved that goodwill prevails by continuing to raise money for the Lewis Mighty Fund, and we want to encourage our supporters to keep up their fantastic work.”