Churchwarden Steven Clark used money from the church bought 76 bottles of wine for a lunch at his house and £800 at the local butchers
A trusted churchwarden bankrolled lavish spending on bottles of wine and private London members’ clubs with more than £35,000 he siphoned from the church’s restoration fund.
Steven Clark’s purchases, using the money intended to transform St Michael and All Angels Church, Northumberland, included 76 bottles of wine for a lunch at his house and £800 at the local butchers.
The 48-year-old had ‘set himself up as a pillar of the community’ after moving to the hamlet of Alnham and became warden at the 12th century church, applying for Lottery funding for its restoration, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The married father-of-one was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
He applied for funding to transform the church into a ‘centre for learning and information within the community’ in June 2015, Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, told the court.
Clark then opened a second bank account for the church to which he had sole access.
Almost £27,000 of the grant money was put towards the restoration, but Clark used £36,590 for his own lifestyle expenses.
Police investigated spending which also included more than £1,000 on train tickets between the North East and London, and hundreds of pounds at private members’ clubs in London.
Clark had also submitted fraudulent receipts and invoices to secure the funding in the first place.
Pictured: St Michael and All Angels Church, Northumberland. Sentencing him to two years in prison, suspended for two years, Mr Recorder Ray Singh said Clark’s reputation was ‘in tatters’ because of his own ‘selfishness and greed.’
His deceit was uncovered when Alnham District Council treasurer, Andrew Young, spotted spending on wine and horse feed which was clearly unrelated to the church.
Mr Young said the close-knit rural community had been left feeling ‘betrayed’ by Clark’s actions.
Clark was able to immediately pay back the £35,590 he had taken, Robert Woodcock QC, defending, told the court, because he had ‘set about finding ways to satisfy the sums of money he had defrauded.’
Appearing for sentence at Newcastle Crown Court, Clark was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and pay back the £35,690 he had taken
Sentencing him to two years in prison, suspended for two years, Mr Recorder Ray Singh said Clark’s reputation was ‘in tatters’ because of his own ‘selfishness and greed.’
He said: ‘There can be no bigger breach of trust one can imagine than these particular circumstances.’
He added: ‘I have heard about your horses, private members’ clubs, expensive shopping trips and train journeys.’
Clark was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and pay back the £35,690 he had taken.
He was also ordered to pay £1,500 in costs and a victim surcharge, with the amount to be determined.