Woman who spent Australian fire victims’ charity funds on herself jailed

Kerry Palin claimed to be raising money for wildlife affected by the 2020 Australian wildfires

A woman has been jailed for 16 months after spending most of the £34,000 she raised for charity on herself.

Kerry Palin, 27, was living in Peterborough in January 2020 when she started fundraising for wildlife victims of the Australian bush fires.

But she only donated $20 (£10) and doctored screenshots of the receipts.

Palin, now of Rushden, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to fraud and acquiring and concealing criminal property.

Cambridgeshire Police said that Palin set up an equestrian-themed online auction on Facebook to raise money for wildlife charities helping victims of the bushfires.

Tens of millions of animals were estimated to have died in the fires.

The page had 7,000 members and more than 300 people donated goods to sell.

The money raised was paid directly to Palin via her bank or PayPal accounts, but she only donated $5 AUD each to four different charities, police said.

Hundreds of millions of animals died or were harmed in the Australian bush fires

When donors raised concerns, Palin blocked them so they were unable to contact her.

But the pressure mounted and her PayPal account ran into problems due to the high level of funds transferred.

Palin finally contacted police herself and admitted to spending some of the money on luxury items, including a treadmill, hair extensions and a new rug.

She later pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, concealing criminal property and acquiring criminal property.

Palin's partner, David Collins, 39, from Peterborough, pleaded guilty to acquiring criminal property after parcels at their home were found in his name. He was given a conditional discharge.

PC Sam Dane, who investigated, said: "This was an appalling case of fraud where Palin not only deceived generous, kind-natured individuals, but deprived the wildlife victims of the wildfires of thousands of pounds in donations, which would have made a huge difference to their lives."

"Instead of helping the desperate victims of these horrific events, the money was spent on frivolous and unnecessary luxuries," she added.

Cambridgeshire Police urged anyone wanting to donate money to good causes online to be "vigilant".