by Keith Hunt

A former Medway Council manager who fiddled almost £43,000 to pay family debts has been jailed for 14 months.

Tony Hedges was told by a judge he committed a gross breach of trust over a period of three years from 2007 and there had to be a prison sentence.

The 63-year-old former deputy at the Black Lion Leisure Centre in Gillingham admitted two offences of false accounting and two of acquiring criminal property.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Hedges, of Greenfinches, Hempstead, was working as an administrative manager when he defrauded £42,760 by diverting cash from two former council employees into his own bank account.

With National Insurance contributions paid, the total loss to the council was £46,440.

Philip Sinclair, defending, said Hedges ran into credit card debt after there was a loss of income from a foster child leaving the family.

The offences, he said, were “extraordinarily out of character”. He turned to crime to replace the income that was lost and kept it secret from his wife and the rest of his family.

“One can only imagine the situation he was in when suffering the loss of income,” said Mr Sinclair. “He did it. After it was up and running, it essentially ran itself.”

Mr Sinclair told Judge Jeremy Carey: “I ask you to look at this as a need, rather than a greed case. The money was not used for high living.”

Hedges, he said, could repay all of the money but no order was made because confiscation proceedings were pending.

Judge Carey told Hedges: “You were a trusted employee. Over three years, you grossly breached that trust. You perpetrated a fraud over a substantial period of time.

“It was very carefully planned. That is why it did not come to light for a long time. There was very significant level of gain.

“You were a man of good character and have lost your good name. I have no doubt that matters greatly to you.

“You have conducted your life in an impeccable way in all other respects.

"You are hard working and have carried out important functions for children who badly need the love and care of foster parents.”