Tony McDaid stole nearly £10,000 from Acomb Working Men’s Club members

8:46am Monday 26th October 2009

By Megi Rychlikova

“I AM very sorry from the bottom of my heart.” Those were the words of disgraced former president of Acomb Working Men’s Club Tony McDaid after he pleaded guilty to stealing nearly £10,000 from its members.

Catherine Turnbull, prosecuting, told York Magistrates Court that they had trusted him to bank the money they saved over 12 months for a trip to Wembley for rugby league’s Carnegie Challenge Cup final.

But just days before the match, they learned that he had taken £9,307.50 from the account specially set up to pay for their accommodation, coach travel and spending money.

Taxi driver McDaid, 52, of Cornlands Road, Acomb, pleaded guilty to fraud committed in a position of trust when treasurer of the club between September 1, 2008, and August 26, 2009.

Magistrates decided the case was too serious for them to deal with and sent him to York Crown Court where a judge could jail him for more than six months. He was released on bail.

Outside court, he said pleading guilty was a “load off his mind. I feel very relieved.

“What I can do, I have done.The money has been paid back and that money can now go back to the members I’ve been a recluse since. I go to work and go home.

“The club has been my life and now I cannot walk through the doors. “I had a lot of friends there and I have lost a lot of friends through this.” Magistrates heard nothing of his £100,000 win at Clifton Bingo Hall in 2006, when he got a full house quicker than anyone else in the country. His solicitor, Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks, said he committed the crime because he had run up debts and mortgage arrears when his wife was off work with an ankle problem and his taxi income was hit by the recession.

A friend had offered to help him after the theft became public and as a result, McDaid had handed over the missing money to police, who currently hold it.

John Lane, club secretary, said: “He did a lot of good work for the club and was well-respected, so this was a complete surprise to everybody.”

He confirmed that McDaid had resigned as president and was barred, but remained a member.

• After an emergency meeting, enough funds were raised to allow the trip to Wembley to go ahead.

The bingo winner who turned to crime

Three years ago, Tony McDaid seemed to have the “luck of the Irish” when he pocketed a jackpot of more than £100,000 at Clifton Bingo Hall.

He completed a full house in 39 numbers, the fastest call in 500 clubs nationwide. That gave him the club prize, the regional prize and the national prize, together totalling £101,490.39.

“The bulk was given away,” he said. “I have such a large family. They have never had anything. With hindsight, I wish I hadn’t.”

At the time he won, he revealed that he planned to give some to his youngest daughter who was moving out to a place of her own, some to another daughter who was getting married and some to his wife. Today, he is facing court action over court arrears and the loss of his job as a taxi driver because he has to tell City of York Council about his fraud conviction. Councillors could cancel his taxi licence as a result.