Stole £3,750 from own support group
A MAN with mental health issues who was not “equipped” to be put in a position of responsibility has admitted stealing £3,750 from a support group he helped set up.
Brian Cannell (58) was appointed as company secretary when he became involved in the newly-formed Bourne Wellbeing Mental Health support group, which rose from the ashes of the town’s MIND group, which closed as a result of cost-cutting.
Spalding Magistrates’ Court heard that after Mr Cannell set up a bank account for the group with more than £6,000 raised from grants and donations, but from that day no-one else saw the statements.
Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, told the court that as time passed one of the other members became increasingly suspicious as Mr Cannell, of The Broadway, Morton, started buying things such as a laptop computer and Sky TV.
After several attempts to get access to the accounts, the police were finally called on November 14.
By this time the group was struggling financially to pay things such as rent.
Mr Cannell went voluntarily to the police station and admitted he had used the money but said he had intended to pay it back from his disability allowance, saying he had not used it for anything of substance, merely to improve his standard of living.
In mitigation Dav Naghen said Cannell had been a patient of the MIND group, not an employee, and suffered a number of physical and mental health problems which meant he was not mentally equipped to take on the stresses and strains of the role of company secretary for the new group.
He said Cannell was unable to give a good reason why he took the money but he used it to improve his living standards, which were very low and he accepts he had no right to take the money and is remorseful about the breach of trust.
Magistrates adjourned the case until January 10 for a probation report and Mr Cannell was granted bail on the conditions he doesn’t go to the Nationwide Bank in Bourne and doesn’t contact or approach any members of the Support Group.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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Mr Angry of Tonbridge
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 04:44 PMPerhaps Mr Cannell got the job because nobody who was "equipped" to be in such a position of responsibility wanted it. And those who were "equipped" and didn't want the job also couldn't be bothered to ask what was going on until it was too late. At least Mr Cannell is "equipped" well enough to have a solicitor say that he shows remorse.
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