By Emma Glanfield Carol Payne, 32, of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, pictured outside Birmingham Crown Court, abused her position to swindle the cash A treasurer who stole almost £43,000 from a church collection and a school minibus fund and used the cash to pay her child’s tuition fees has been jailed for two and a half years. Carol Payne, 32, abused her position as a member of the parent-teacher association at Highclare School in Birmingham to swindle £11,552, which had been allocated to buy a bus for the benefit of pupils. She also took £31,300 from a Methodist church’s collection fund, which was supposed to be used for the benefit of the congregation - among whom were members of her own family.
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Carol Payne abused her position to steal £11,552 from Birmingham school
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The 32-year-old also swindled £31,300 from a Methodist church collection
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Fraudster even tricked her own mother-in-law in order to siphon money
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She used the cash to pay her daughter's school tuition fees and her rent
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Judge jailed her for two and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court today
The mother - who was chosen for the treasury role because she had a background in accountancy – pleaded guilty to stealing from @placeholder, as well as further offences of fraud and false accounting in relation to the church at an earlier court hearing.