Help for Heroes charity fiddle soldier losing job

A Black Country soldier who stole money from Help for Heroes will be kicked out of the Army.

Ashley White, aged 25, of Tasker Street, Walsall, was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work for fraud at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday.

He narrowly avoided jail after a judge considered service in Afghanistan and Iraq. White served with the 22nd Royal Signal Regiment based at Beacon Barracks, Beaconside, Stafford.

He was sent £2,459.10 of stock including stickers, mugs and wristbands by the charity, which raises funds to help wounded members of the armed forces and their families. They were to be sold at an event at the Hussey Arms, Brownhills.

White did not return cash or stock and blamed the landlord for taking money and merchandise.

Mr Zaheer Afzal, prosecuting at Wolverhampton Crown Court last month, called White a "con man" who used cash to part-pay a £15,000 debt. White, convicted by a jury, has arranged to pay back £2,200 and £259.10 in compensation.

Recorder Benjamin Nicholls said: "You have disgraced yourself and you have disgraced your regiment — you have cheated your fellow soldiers who rely on Help for Heroes.

"You have cheated the charity itself and you have cheated members of the public who thought they were giving to a worthy cause. The usual sentence for such a breach of trust is a period of 18 weeks in prison."

He departed from sentencing guidelines "in the interests of justice" after hearing White, who joined aged 16, would either be discharged or given an opportunity to resign. Mr

Andrew Mitchinson, defending, said he was an enigma. "He has served in Iraq and he has also served in Afghanistan. So for him to be sentenced for this particular offence is very difficult for him."

The court heard White had issues with his sexuality at the time and financial problems. He had a difficult family life as his mother died in childbirth and he was since blamed for her death by some members of her family.

"What he has seen in Iraq perhaps makes it all the more difficult. He has clearly witnessed things that the rest of us only hear about in news reports." He said White he would be discharged from the army "come what may".

He joined in 2001 aged 16. He must pay £2,800 in prosecution costs within six months, and pay back a remaining £1,959.10 to Help for Heroes.