‘Heartless fraudster’ took £76,000 from York children’s charity

A TRUSTED pillar of the community has been jailed after stealing more than £76,000 from a charity set up to help sick children.

Howard Rose, 63, covered his tracks by creating fake correspondence from charities thanking the Yorkshire Children’s Hospital Fund for donations, which he had instead paid to into his own bank account as he battled debts of £180,000.

His stealing began in 2007 but was discovered last year shortly after he left as part-time administrator of the charity set up 20 years ago to provide medical equipment and funding for children which cannot be afforded by the NHS.

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Jailing him for 15 months at York Crown Court yesterday, Judge Stephen Ashurst said: “You appear in court today in disgrace. Any theft of a large amount of money is serious, but when the victim is a charity supporting children’s health organisations it becomes so much more serious.”

Nicholas Barker, mitigating, said it was a “tragedy” for all concerned.

He said Rose, of The Village, Earswick, York, had remortgaged his house in 2006 but was found to have a brain tumour, leaving him short of income, and the thefts began soon after. His house was now up for sale and proceeds would be used to repay the charities.

Det Sgt Garry Ridler, of North Yorkshire Police’s major fraud team, said: “Howard Rose abused his role within the trust for his own personal gain, without sparing a thought for the children he was supposed to be helping.

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“He stole funds which people had donated for the care of sick children and for that he fully deserves the sentence he has been given. He now has time to reflect on the major breach of trust which he should be ashamed of, considering the length of time in which he had been taking what amounted to a substantial amount of money.”

A spokeswoman for the Yorkshire Children’s Hospital Fund said: “We remain financially secure and will continue to support neonatal and paediatric care across the county.”

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