By Grâçia Ada Obi
Wendy Gill, 61, pocketed the money from Bramcote Church of England Primary School in Nottinghamshire, over a six-year period. She covered up her fraud by telling the headteacher finances at the school were “tight” while funnelling cash into three of her own bank accounts.
Her crimes meant the 210-pupils often went without key resources including computers, pens and glue sticks. On one occasion, the Parent-Teacher Association were forced to donate money to buy reading books.
Gill’s crimes came to light in 2022 when Governors discovered the school was projected to be in a deficit of £21,158 – more than three times the figure Gill had told headteacher Sarah Meredith.
The school was subjected to a financial investigation by the Local Authority, which led to further serious financial discrepancies being uncovered.
A Police investigation was launched and Gill was suspended in June 2022 and she resigned seven days later.
Detectives discovered £70,581.51 had been fraudulently transferred from the school’s accounts into Gill’s three accounts between April 2016 and June 2022.
Gill admitted fraud by abuse of position but refused to say why or what she spent the money on. On Tuesday Gill, of Ilkeston, was jailed for two years and one month at Nottingham Crown Court.
Sentencing Gill, Recorder James Bide-Thomas said: “Everyone at Bramcote School feels betrayed. It was plainly a close-knit community as shown by the number of people who have attended court to watch you be sentenced.
“There was no money for new computers, new toys and there was a limit on the number of pencils and glue sticks that could be purchased. Funds to maintain buildings were not spent in that fashion, leading to the deterioration of those buildings.”
Gill was the school’s Business Manager and had responsibility for managing staff payroll, ordering supplies and administering the bank accounts.
Prosecutors said she was a “well-liked” and “trusted” member of staff who repeatedly abused her position. The court heard pupils had to go without “essential resources” as a result of the financial strain Gill’s actions placed on the school’s budget.
In a statement read out in court, headteacher Sarah Meredith said: “The biggest impact of all has been on the children of the school.
“We now know that due to the deception and selfish acts of Mrs Gill, the children over a number of years have missed out and suffered from being unable to access essential resources.
“I feel deeply that depriving our children of this money is totally abhorrent. For years as a school we tried our very best to give our children, as our school motto advocates, ‘Life In All its Fullness.’