Questions over police handling of poppy fraudster

Sean Pullen lied about being in the Parachute Regiment and special forces

Police have pledged to "review" why officers failed to prosecute a fraudster who betrayed the Royal British Legion (RBL) charity and helped himself to more than £20,000 in poppy appeal donations.

Sean Pullen, 50, was the chairman of the Liverpool branch of the RBL when he stole the cash - before burning the empty collection boxes at his homes.

The branch took its evidence to Merseyside Police in 2019 only to be told the force could not help, meaning the charity had to use £200,000 of its own money to bring a private prosecution.

The decision was criticised in court and has raised questions from an MP and a judge.

Pullen pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to a suspended prison term of two years at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.

• Poppy appeal boss stole £20k from collection boxes

The court had heard how the current Liverpool branch chairwoman Elaine Overend had gone to police and outlined the charity's own internal investigation, which began when suspicions were raised in 2018.

In her official statement to the force in 2019, Ms Overend described how she visited Pullen's former home in Scarisbrick, Lancashire and going into the garden to find the remnants of a fire.

"There were actually coins melted into the debris," she wrote.

"I couldn't understand why he would do this and I actually broke down and cried on discovering the fire and seeing what was the [collection] tins melted into a plastic red puddle."

Elaine Overend, chairwoman of the Royal British Legion Liverpool branch, said she "broke down and cried" when she found burned collection boxes

However, police told Ms Overend that there were difficulties with the case, including some relating to the fact that Pullen had changed his name several times.

In a letter, a sergeant told her: "As it stands, there are too many gaps we're unable to fill, the main one being who the suspect truly is."

But in court, James Rae, prosecuting on behalf of the RBL, said the charity's solicitors had in the end simply asked the magistrates' court for an arrest warrant in the name Sean Kevan Pullen, which they knew him as.

When media reports were published about the warrant, Pullen turned up at Liverpool Magistrates' Court of his own accord and surrendered.

Mr Rae noted how in previous hearings a judge had questioned why the police had not been involved in the case.

Ashley Dalton, MP for West Lancashire where Pullen was living at the time, described the situation as "bizarre".

"Lots of people go by different names, but that doesn't mean you can't identify them," she said.

"If there is something preventing [the police] from identifying a person - some sort of legislation that is limiting their ability to do that - then that needs to be tackled."

Several ex-servicemen, including these paratroopers, attended court to see Pullen sentenced

Ms Overend told the BBC that members of the Liverpool branch were also disappointed with the central Royal British Legion organisation.

"The legion wanted to brush it under the carpet, we as the city of Liverpool branch refused to do so," Ms Overend said.

"We have been fighting, not just the Merseyside Police to get this court, but the British Legion didn't want the publicity because they didn't want people to stop donating to the cause."

The RBL said the investigation process had been a "difficult time for our volunteers and collectors" in Liverpool but a spokesperson said it had nothing to add in response to Ms Overend's comments.

Merseyside Police said the force would review how the case was handled in 2019 "to identify any possible learnings".

It added: "Fraud can have a devastating impact on any victim, but to target a charity is particularly callous and we acknowledge that Sean Pullen has now been sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court."