Tricia Lilliston, 35, of Fir Tree, Shildon, was recently jailed for 20 months after defrauding the public of £2,000 by pretending to be collecting for the Help For Heroes charity.
It was the second time that Lilliston, who was reported to police by her boyfriend, had been found guilty of the same offence.
She had previously been jailed for four months for keeping £375 she had pretended to collect for the same charity at a pub in Nottinghamshire in 2010.
The latest offence was committed after Lilliston had used her boyfriend’s surname in order to apply for a fundraising pack and avoid potential blacklisting by using her own name.
Prosecuting at Durham Crown Court, Martin Towers explained that the kit, which was worth £507, was sent to her to allow her to collect money outside Asda in Bishop Auckland on July 5th and 6th of last year.
Speaking in the court, Jo Brooks of Help For Heroes said: “This sort of conduct does all manner of damage to the public perception of donating to charity and is a deplorable misuse of our name and goodwill.”
Agreeing with the sentiments, recorder Simon Batiste said: “Every right-thinking member of the public will be utterly revolted by an offence of this type.”
John Turner, for Lilliston said: “Not surprisingly the reaction to the offence has been extreme, so for a number of reasons, there’s a need to move from the Shildon area.”
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
