Charity fundraiser stole £220k, prosecutors say

Jane Brookes, 54, from Bromsgrove, has admitted to fraud at Worcester Crown Court

A fundraiser who admitted defrauding a charity of £6,000 has actually stolen more than £220,000, a court has heard.

Jane Brookes, 54, pleaded guilty on Monday to taking a sum of £6,000 donated by bereaved families to Cancer Research UK over a period of 10 years.

However, the prosecution at Worcester Crown Court has argued she stole £226,557 while chairing a local fundraising committee for the charity.

During a Newton Hearing on Tuesday, sitting without a jury to consider the discrepancy in evidence between the two sums, the defence claimed Ms Brookes had taken the money because she was under pressure from a boyfriend.

Prosecutors said Ms Brookes abused her position as unpaid chair of a committee in Rubery by using a charity bank account, opened in 2012, for personal expenses.

The court heard donations sent by hundreds of bereaved families through funeral undertakers should have been transferred from the Lloyds Bank account in Bromsgrove to Cancer Research UK's head office.

'Cunning, deceitful enterprise'

Instead a total of £226,557 was allegedly moved by Ms Brookes into multiple personal bank accounts and spent on petrol, shopping, and riding lessons, the prosecution said.

Prosecutor David Iles described the defendant's actions as a "cunning, deceitful enterprise".

He said she referred to herself as Lady Brookes to present a façade of respectability and argued she misled the charity for a decade, fabricating excuses such as overwork and bereavement to avoid scrutiny.

The court heard the fraud was only uncovered in 2021, when a bereaved individual queried why their donation had not been acknowledged and, when police investigated in November of that year, just 47p remained.

It was alleged Ms Brookes opened four Halifax accounts to disperse transactions and used ten personal accounts despite having no paid employment during the period in question.

Defence barrister Tom Kenning claimed the £6,000 fraud admitted by his client was limited to a shorter time span and suggested she was coerced by an "enthralling and bullying boyfriend".

But Mr Iles dismissed this claim, stating the fraud spanned a decade and Ms Brookes had done "everything possible to avoid coming to court."

At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge will make a decision on the scale of Ms Brookes' fraud before she is sentenced.

The hearing continues.