Fraudster Miriam Beard discharged from psychiatric unit

Miriam Beard had been taken to hospital from Mold Crown Court on Friday

A woman who defrauded a regeneration scheme of £51,000 has been discharged from a psychiatric unit before she is sentenced next month.

Miriam Beard had been taken to hospital from Mold Crown Court on Friday after a judge heard she had taken tablets.

The former co-ordinator of the Plas Madoc Communities First Project in Wrexham was bailed to a psychiatric unit but has now been released.

The court heard that there was no evidence of depression or psychosis.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said that whatever had happened on Friday, he could not escape the conclusion that it was some sort of gesture aimed at derailing the legal process.

A medical report indicated that while she had taken some tablets, she did not require any medical treatment.

Her risk of self harm was said to be low.

Registered charity

Following submissions from her barrister, the judge agreed to conditional bail.

Beard, 55, is due to be sentenced in early December at Caernarfon Crown Court after admitting nine fraud charges part-way through her trial last week.

Her son Darrell Kelly, 35, of Greater Manchester, has admitted six charges.

The prosecution said Beard was using the assets of the Plas Madoc Communities First Project, a registered charity set up to improve the local community, for her own ends.