Six month suspended jail sentence for stealing from memorial fund

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A MAN was given a six month jail sentence, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Warrington Crown Court today after being found guilty of stealing money from a fund set up in memory of a teenager.
Mark Faulkner, of Salisbury Street, Warrington, was found guilty yesterday following a trial at the same court.
He was also ordered to repay the £1,090 he stole, pay £2,000 costs and ordered to complete 200 hours community service.
The court was told Faulkner was arrested in November 2012. He was bailed pending further enquiries and was subsequently charged with two counts of theft.
The 26-year-old stole almost £1,090 from the “Lewis Edge – The Brightest Star fund” – set up in memory of 14-year-old music enthusiast Lewis Edge, of Widnes, who died after jumping from the Runcorn/Widnes Silver Jubilee bridge on July 11, 2012.
Following his death Lewis’ parents – Lisa Millward and Graeme Edge – started to receive donations in his memory.
Collectively, a decision was made with the local community in the West Bank area of Widnes to set up a fund to continue to raise money in Lewis ‘ memory. This money was to be channelled back into the local community and used to provide activities and support for other teenagers in need of help.
Faulkner approached the family having heard of the fund and befriended them – he offered guidance in how to raise money and assisted them in the setting up of a memorial fund bank account and board of trustees.
A number of small charity events were staged in the town and money was raised at each event. The money raised was then to be taken to a bank in Widnes to be paid into the memorial fund.
Faulkner was entrusted to pay cheques into the account and was given the bank book so a record of all payments could be kept. Then, on two occasions in October, he was asked to collect two separate amounts of cash and pay it into the bank for safe keeping.
Lewis’ mum later became suspicious when a bank statement revealed that there were fewer funds in the account than were expected.
She contacted Faulkner on a number of occasions and asked for the return of the bank book – he gave her a string of excuses to avoid having to return the book. This included the excuse that his car had been seized by police and he was not allowed to recover his property from it.
When she pointed out the issue with the lack of funds Faulkner sent her a text message claiming to have paid both amounts of cash into the bank.
Concerns were raised with Cheshire Police and, in November 2012, officers attended Faulkner’s home and asked to see the bank book. This was subsequently seized and Faulkner was arrested.
Examination of the bank book showed that the two deposits that Faulkner was due to make were never stamped in the book.
CCTV was also seized from the bank and hours of footage were examined showing that Faulkner did not enter the bank between the dates given.
During his interview he denied the theft of the money. He maintained he had taken the money in good faith and had transported it to the bank and paid it in.
After the hearing, DC Marc Roberts, who investigated the case, said: “Faulkner targeted Lewis’ family at a time when they were grieving. He gained their trust and was given the important job of paying two amounts of cash into the fund but instead of doing that he preyed on their vulnerability and chose to keep the funds for himself.
“Faulkner always maintained that he had paid the money into the account – knowing only too well that he had used it to line his own pockets.
“This has been a traumatic time for Lewis’ parents in particular – having to deal with the loss of their son and then finding out that money, which had been raised in his memory to benefit the whole community, had been stolen by someone they trusted and thought was their friend.
“I hope that the successful conclusion of this case will allow Lewis’ family to move forward with their lives and use the fund as it was intended – to celebrate Lewis’ life and all that he achieved, to benefit the local community and to provide activities and support for other teenagers who may be in need of help.”
If anyone would like to make a donation in Lewis’ memory his family has asked that they be given directly to The Studio – contact details are available by logging onto http://www.loosemusic.org/. This is a not for profit organisation, which supports and promotes music and creative arts.


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

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