Black Country charity boss fleeced funds for lavish trips and home refurbishment

A district judge described 54-year-old chief executive Jean Taylor's three-year fraud spree as "appalling".

Sandwell Volunteer Bureau, where she worked for 15 years, may have to close as a result of the thefts, leading to job losses, Dudley Magistrates Court heard.

Taylor used her £35,000-a-year job at the charity to get free goods and services on her five-star trips abroad, said Ms Karen Cockitt, prosecuting.

She emailed the hotel at Cancun, Mexico, ahead of her £3,000 two-week break informing them she was celebrating 14 years working at a charity and asking for complimentary champagne and fruit on her arrival.

She also wangled a free massage on a £2,300 Mediterranean cruise, citing her job, while breaks nearer home included four stays at the Park Hall Hotel, Wolverhampton.

Taylor launched her scam in September 2016 after taking over when a senior colleague went on long-term sickness leave, initially buying a bathroom suite and shower for her Great Barr home.

Eight months later she overhauled her kitchen, ordering new units, fancy fittings and the services of a tile fitter.

Throughout last year Taylor lavished more of the charity's cash on home furnishings, electrical goods, new furniture and having her garden landscaped. The extent of the fraud totalled £13,695.

"The charity may not survive as a result of that loss and if that happens, people will lose their jobs," said Ms Cockitt.

Mr Basharat Hussain, defending, called Taylor's actions "bizarre."

He said: "She's a woman who has worked hard to get to a good position and now has thrown it all away."

'Defies all logic'

She began suffering from anxiety and depression in her 50s and told police in interview that her offending was a "cry for help", the court heard.

Taylor has lost her job and looks like losing her house, said Mr Hussain.

"What she did defies all logic, as she could easily have afforded to pay for everything herself with a sensible budget.

"Now she has lost everything and will be struggling all her life. She says it was a cry for help but it was the wrong way to get attention."

Taylor, of Throstles Close, Great Barr, pleaded guilty to nine charges of fraud by false representation.

She was given a 12-month prison term suspended for two years, put on a six-month tagged curfew and ordered to compensate Sandwell Volunteer Bureau.

Passing sentence, District Judge Graham Wilkinson told her: "You were not stealing for necessities but for life's luxuries. The conceit of it, the arrogance, is astonishing.

"This was not a 'cry for help' as you laughably described it to police – it was greed, pure and simple."