Poppy appeal boss stole £20k from collection boxes

A Royal British Legion branch chairman who helped himself to more than £20,000 in donations to the charity's famous poppy appeal has been sentenced.

Sean Pullen was trusted with cash handed to the Liverpool branch of the charity but pocketed the money before burning some of the containers in the garden of his home.

Pullen, who was described in court as being "manipulative" and having told lies about his own military background, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. He was handed a two-year sentence, which a judge at Liverpool Crown Court decided to suspend.

Elaine Overend, a branch volunteer who worked with Pullen, told the court he had left behind a "trail of devastation" after the funds began to go missing between October and December 2018.

Pullen, of Scarisbrick, Lancashire, is now registered blind and entered court assisted by his solicitor.

James Rae, prosecuting, told the court although Pullen's admission was limited to £20,000, he could have defrauded the charity by up to £70,000.

Ms Overend first raised the alarm when the Royal British Legion told her that only £20,000 had been raised by the Liverpool branch in 2018, because Pullen had told volunteers "that they had in fact raised over £50,000 that year".

Pullen, who had been the poppy appeal organiser for Liverpool since April 2009, often sat in a minibus parked on Church Street while others went out and did the work of collecting, the court heard.

He told a series of lies to volunteers – including that he was a "government spook" as an "excuse to shroud his life in mystery".

Sentencing him, Judge Trevor-Jones called Pullen's crimes "a grand deceit" and said Pullen had purported to have been a member of "the esteemed parachute regiment".

"All of which proved to be entirely false," he added.

He described the Royal British Legion as "one of the much loved and iconic causes held in great affection by the public".

He continued: "When activities such as this attract inevitable publicity it then impacts on the confidence of the public in deciding whether it's safe or reliable to risk making future donations.

"By your dishonesty, your greed primarily impacted on what funds were available to help those deserving families. There was £20,000 less than there should have been."

The judge added: "To compound matters you sought to blame others for the losses you have caused, casting initial suspicion on them until it became apparent they were entirely blameless."

When the judge left the bench, cries of "Walter Mitty conman" and "robbing the dead" were heard from the public gallery.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Overend said: "These elderly people would give money to Sean Pullen directly for the Royal British Legion and we have no idea where that money went or how it was spent.

"They usually gave more than what they could afford and were always incredibly generous.

"Our branch is in tatters. Instead of being at the fore of veteran welfare, we are now the laughing stock of the city."

Pullen's defence lawyer John Rowan told the court his client had "about £300 in the bank" and "has no assets".

The court heard the Royal British Legion had brought its own private prosecution at a cost of more than £200,000.

The charity originally reported suspicions to Merseyside Police but the force declined to take the matter further because Pullen had used several different names and they had trouble identifying him.

In a letter, the force told the charity: "As it stands, there are too many gaps we're unable to fill, the main one being who the suspect truly is.

"This case has been finalised pending further evidence coming to light."

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