School had to cut jobs after Sunderland finance manager stole £129,000

Kevin Enright, from Houghton, had full access to the banking for St Leonards Catholic School in Durham, through his job as business and finance manager which he held since 2018.

Newcastle Crown Court heard between February 25 2019 and November 12 2020, Enright transferred a total of £129,160 into four bank accounts he had access to and spent it on himself.

The fraud was exposed after Enright was suspended from work in September 2020 over "performance concerns" and colleagues gained access to his computer.

The court heard the education establishment became part of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust in April 2020 and his offending occurred before and after the membership.

Prosecutor Saba Shan told the court: "Payments appeared to have been made for various invoices to regular suppliers but also companies the trust had never used.

"In actual fact payments were made to four bank accounts."

The court heard the bank accounts where the money was sent were controlled by Enright.

As a result of the losses, redundancies had to be made at the school although the court heard it is unclear how many.

Miss Shan said: "As a direct result, expenditure had to be cut and there was less available for items such as books, equipment and in addition several cost saving measures had to be implemented.

"There were cuts to curriculum spending and restricting of support staff, resulting in redundancies."

Enright, 46, of Sutherland Grange, Houghton, Sunderland, admitted fraud by abuse of position of trust.

Miss Recorder Felicity Davies sentenced him to 27 months behind bars and told him: "The court doesn't know the number of redundancies but it's plainly more than one, in order to try and maintain the running of the school with this very significant loss to them."

Shada Mellor, defending, said Enright was in a "dark place" when he committed the offence, which he deeply regrets and is sorry for, had a gambling addiction and is now £35,000 in debt.

Miss Mellor said Enright has character references that describe him as "kind, helpful and caring" and added: "If he were in a position to repay he certainly would."

Prosecutors have launched proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act where any assets Enright has could be seized.