Melanie Rose, 46, allegedly used her piggy bank for criminal expenses claims for more than three years
A headteacher fraudulently splashed her school’s funds on a holiday to New York, lavish meals at restaurants across London and Christmas presents for her partner, a court heard.
Melanie Rose, 46, allegedly used the account at the Ben Jonson Primary School in Mile End, east London, as her piggy bank for criminal expenses claims for more than three years.
She bought a £2,388 Apple laptop as a Christmas present for her partner and spent £1,077 on a room at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Petty cash claims by staff were not allowed to exceed £30 with strict regulations on their use, but an audit after Rose left in August 2013 showed her stewardship was ‘liberally peppered’ with illegitimate petty cash claims.
Rose spent hundreds on staff meals at London restaurants such as Zizzi and Nuovo, jurors heard.
One colleague allegedly witnessed her asking a taxi driver to inflate the cost of their ride so she could pay him a tip, at the school’s expense.
Prosecutor Kevin Walls said she bought an Apple laptop costing £2,388 in December 2011 but the computer never appeared in any school inventory, and was never used on the premises.
When challenged by governors about the purchase she said it had broken after she spilled tea on it.
The laptop was found fully functional during a police search of her address in 2016.
Rose then admitted she had bought it as a Christmas present for her partner Colin Payne.
Rose also made a claim of £1,077 for a room at the four star Ace Hotel in Manhattan, New York in December 2012.
She told school governors it was a work trip, but had promised she would pay for it.
Rose bought a £2,388 Apple laptop as a Christmas present for her partner and spent £1,077 on a room at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard
But after the trip she filed an expenses form which contained the hefty fee for her stay at the hotel.
‘It’s the crown’s case that on a number of occasions she claimed expenses for things she knew she had no right to while she was headteacher at Ben Jonson Primary School,’ Mr Walls said.
‘As you would no doubt expect for a headteacher she has no prior record.
‘She applied in 2008 for the position of headteacher, which was successful.
‘She began in 2009 and remained headteacher until August 2013, and during that time she was bound by a document called a Scheme of Delegation for Financial Procedures.
‘State schools have rules for things that can be bought from their budget. when she left in 2013 an audit was conducted of the school while Melanie Rose was at the helm.
‘Liberally peppered throughout her time in charge were regular incidences of going over the spending restrictions and dishonestly claiming expenses she knew she was not entitled to.
‘Under no circumstances should the card be used for salaries, wages, travel, subsistence or entertainment.’
‘There is £293 for staff meal at the Zizzi restaurant on 12 May 2011 in spite of it contravening the spending limitations,’ he said.
‘It should not be used for travel, subsistence or entertainment.
‘Yet when we look at the receipt we see it has ravioli, the linguini, the prosecco, the Peroni, it was clearly a meal, it was clearly entertainment.
‘There were other claims the defendant made that she should not have been asking for.
‘There was a petty cash claim of £107 on 12 May 2011 for a staff meal at the Nuovo restaurant in Canary Wharf, again contravening spending limitations.
‘She was well aware of the Scheme of Delegation and Financial Procedures. She made a petty cash claim of £835.87 in June 2012. In this claim were hotel rooms and a meal at Zizzi costing £296.
‘On 11 June 2012 a further hotel booking was made paid for using the school credit card, costing £316.
‘Make no bones about it, these are school funds. This is public money, funds provided to the school.
Rose spent hundreds on staff meals at London restaurants such as Zizzi and Nuovo, jurors heard
‘The hotel rooms appear to be for a number of rooms on the same night in Birmingham, coinciding with a conference.
‘Colin Payne, who is Melanie Rose’s partner at the time was one of those whose bed for the night was paid for by the card.
‘The contravention is clear: you’re not entitled to use school funds for your partner to stay in Birmingham.’
‘There was £363 expenses for a meal on 4 September 2012 at the Cinnamons Restaurant, and a grocery bill at Tesco’s of £83.89.
‘On 2 December 2011, Melanie Rose purchased a laptop that was not for school, on the school credit card.
‘It was bought from Apple for £2,388.89. This laptop was not used for school.
‘It was later discovered the laptop was a Christmas present for her partner and was actually recovered during a police search of her address.
‘It could never be said that buying her partner a laptop for £2,400 would ever be sanctioned by school expenses.
‘In her response she said she had spilled a cup of tea over the laptop and had been written off by the ICT leader at the school. This was a lie.’
Her alleged fraud took place while she was head of Ben Jonson Primary School in Mile End (pictured)
‘In 2012, Melanie Rose took at trip to New York between 5 – 9 December 2012.
‘The chair of governors at the school, Ray Hall said Melanie Rose gave her assurances that she would be paying for the trip herself.
‘As it happens also in the meeting was Iain Saville, he was another chair of the school committee, and he also heard the assurances she gave that it was her trip to New York, and she was paying for it herself.
‘A subsequent petty cash claim covering various expenses in December 2012 was submitted, and resulting in a check for her being made on the 18 December.
‘The £1,077 is the overall amount that was the reimbursement for her stay in the Ace Hotel in New York.
‘She knew full well she had no right or basis for claiming this expenditure back from school funds.’
Rose, from Loughton, Essex, denies three charges of fraud, between January 2010 and August 2013.
The trial continues.
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