A BELLINGHAM Middle School caretaker who stole school funds to ‘make a stand’ has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Douglas Richardson (56) appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to be sentenced, after being found guilty of theft by employee and attempted theft by employee during a trial at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on November 11.

Richardson had denied the charges, saying he took the money but had intended to return it.

After staff at the school discovered £140 from a collection for a school trip to Lightwater Valley was missing, as well as £15 from a school disco collection and 50 Euros left over from a school trip to Norway, acting headteacher Rebecca Simpson installed a covert camera in her office.

Video footage from the camera from July 8 showed the caretaker twice using a key to open the now empty safe and look inside.

During his trial, the court also heard that some months ago, Richardson found a missing key to a safe which had gone missing in 2014, but had told no-one about it.

The caretaker claimed that he had become so frustrated at the school’s inadequate security measures that he wanted to make a stand. He said that he had become annoyed that his warnings were ignored regarding lap-tops and mobile phones left out, and doors and windows left open at the end of the day.

Speaking at his trial he said: “I had tried everything and nothing seemed to be working. I was that frustrated with it that I went over the top, basically.

“I thought they would realise and we would have a meeting and I could put my issues forward. I didn’t intend to keep that money, I just wanted to make a stand.”

Richardson, of Cairns Road, Bellingham, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay court costs and compensation totalling £735.

samantha.spowart@hexham-courant.co.uk