Gwent Police has returned £569.98 to the British Institute for Brain Injured Children (bibic) following the successful investigation and sentencing of Caerphilly man, Paul Youde back in February 2011.
Youde was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment for a series of offences relating to charity collections, following an investigation by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Trading Standards team and Gwent Police.
Paul Youde, aged 63, who at the time of his arrest lived at Parc Avenue, Caerphilly was sentenced for collecting more than £67,000 and not passing it onto the charity he was collecting on behalf. The offences came to light when Youde was approached by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Trading Standards team in a local supermarket in 2009.
Youde claimed to be collecting on behalf of bibic – checks with the charity revealed however that they hadn’t received any money from Youde since he registered with them in 2007.
Following this, Youde did make a small one-off payment to the charity. Enquiries revealed that Youde had been collecting intensively in the South East Wales area over a three-year period, sometimes dressed up as a clown or as Father Christmas.
The matter was passed over by Trading Standards to Gwent Police, who arrested Youde and carried out an investigation.
Detective Constable Becky Hayward from Gwent Police CID who investigated said: “Most of what Youde collected had been spent over the three year period – thankfully we were able to recover £569.98 – money seized from Youde’s home in 2010.
“We’ve spent a long time working on this case and I’m happy that we are able to return some of the money. People like Youde prey on the kindness of members of the public for their own gain which is unacceptable. If anyone has doubts on the validity of a charity collector operating in their area, I would urge them to contact the Police or their local trading Standards team.”
Chief Executive of bibic, John Bennet says: “This is a lovely gesture from Gwent Police. We’ve worked long and hard over the last year to ensure that Youde was brought to justice. The support from Gwent Police and DC Becky Hayward has been tremendous and we’ve built a good working relationship over the months. Our charity will definitely benefit from the donation – every cloud has a silver lining and we are thankful that DC Hayward has been able to make this happen.”
If you are suspicious of a charity collector, take as many details as possible, including the time and place, as well as a description of the collector.
Contact the Trading Standards team on 01495 235 291 who will be pleased to check it out for you.
