A FORMER charity trustee from North Yorkshire has admitted taking nearly £27,000 from a charity's coffers.

Hugh Morgan Williams has today been handed a 33-week sentence, suspended for 12 months after he admitted to committing fraud while he oversaw a privatised probation organisation which received money from the public purse.

Morgan Williams took £26,966 the from Durham and Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company (DTVCRC) while he was interim chairman.

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He used personal contacts with a private company he had links to, to procure contracts for DTVCRC and took ten percent of the contract value for his own personal use without the knowledge of the board.

During the police investigation, it was discovered that Morgan Williams had attempted to have entries deleted on invoices with the name DTVCRC thereon prior to his invoices being submitted to the company for payment.

During a brief hearing at Teesside Crown Court on April 7 this year, the 70-year-old, of North Riding Rise, Thornton-le-Moor, near Thirsk, pleaded guilty to fraud between January 1, 2015, and February 1, 2016, relating to his time at the DTVCRC.

Morgan Williams received an OBE in June 2008 for services to business in the North East.

The honours department of the Cabinet Office have been made aware of his hearing with a view to a request to have this forfeited.

The officer in charge of the case, Detective Constable Fraud Investigator, Emma Harris said “Morgan Williams was trusted with money from the public purse. He has abused the trust placed on him to safeguard the interests of DTVCRC and his position in order to make financial gain for himself.

"This sends a message that no matter what your position, if you commit these offences, you will be found out and brought to justice."