A Caerphilly county borough man has been 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 to 28 months imprisonment for collecting more than £67,000 and not passing it onto the charity he was collecting on behalf of over a period of three years.
Youde was found guilty of collecting for a charity that didn’t exist, making up paperwork in relation to a charity that didn’t exist and not passing on money that had been collected on behalf of charity when he appeared at Newport Crown Court on 3rd February.
The offences came to light when Youde was approached by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Trading Standards team in a local supermarket in 2009.
Cllr Rob Gough, Cabinet Member for Public Protection said, “This is a truly despicable crime, which involved duping people who believed they were donating money to a very worthy cause. Our Trading Standards team work extremely hard alongside our partners to help ensure that the tiny minority who feel it is acceptable to defraud people in this manner do not get away with it”.
Youde claimed to be collecting on behalf of the British Institute for Brain Injured Children (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 commented: “Youde callously duped generous members of the public into thinking the money they were donating would be going to the charity, whilst he himself was benefiting.”
“We wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from making donations to charity, however we would urge people to check that collectors and the charity they are representing are genuine before doing so.”
Cllr Rob Gough continued, “Although a very severe case, cases like these are extremely rare, and I would like to reiterate that the vast majority of charity collectors are 100% bone fide and reputable, and that residents should not be deterred from donating to charity because of this case”.
He continued, “Reputable charity collectors will have some identification on their person provided by the charity, the charities are registered with the Charity Commission and their number should be available, and the registration number of the charity can be checked on the Charity Commission website”.
If you are suspicious, take as many details as possible, including the above and 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.
