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'Greedy' former union leader Neil Greatrex jailed for theft

A former union leader has been jailed for four years for stealing almost £150,000 from a miners' charity.

Neil Greatrex, 61, a former Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) president, was found guilty of stealing from Nottinghamshire Miners Charity, which ran a Lincolnshire care home.

Birmingham Crown Court heard the thefts took place between 2000 and 2006.

Judge John Wait said Greatrex, who spent £11,750 on a kitchen, was guilty of "sophisticated greed".

Home improvements

A jury at Nottingham Crown Court found him guilty of 14 counts of theft on 3 April following a two-week trial.

UDM general secretary Mick Stevens, 60, was cleared of all 14 counts of theft at the same hearing.

The miners' charity ran the Phoenix Care Home in Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire.

The jury heard Greatrex, from Stanley, near Teversal, Nottinghamshire, billed the charity for £148,628 for alleged improvement work which was actually being done on his and Mr Stevens' properties.

Greatrex told the court that he had billed the care home for a new kitchen for his own house, but that the money was taken in lieu of a salary.

"I believed I was entitled to a reasonable salary and expenses from the home for the work that I was doing for it," he said.

But Judge Wait, who heard that Greatrex was earning a salary of £67,000 in 1987, told the disgraced union official: "As a trustee of the charity you were not entitled to profit from your role.

"You saw an opportunity to make personal profit at the expense of those less fortunate than yourself whose interest you had agreed as trustee to protect.

"Over the years you wanted works done at your own home and the home of your co-director - outside paving, a new kitchen, new windows and doors, many supplies of building materials.

"Works and materials that with the salary you were paid you could have afforded. This was calculated and dishonest greed."

Greatrex spent more than 20 years in the National Union of Mineworkers before forming the UDM in 1985.

He became a controversial figure for speaking out against NUM president Arthur Scargill's tactics in the 1985 strikes.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-no ... e-17866402

lousy b*stard

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

The strange thing for me is that he must have believed that he was entitled to this money because he made no effort to hide where the money was going. He sent invoices. I assume that there were other trustees and people issuing the cheques, so why was this not stopped earlier?

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Grandad,

They're probably at it as well.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

Does he have to pay the money back?

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Scumbag

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

I think the police have to apply to the home office for that but if they do it would serve him right wasn't Scargill caught with his nose in the trough a few years ago ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Imo he should be made to pay it back

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

POCA 2002 is your friend

Mick Stevens was up to his neck in it but has somehow got off.

Lousy bastard with a million quid + house all paid for no doubt with funds from the UDM and from the sick miners funds.

Are you sure there weren't a few brown envelopes to smooth the passage of mine closures as well !!!

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Oh yeah there was defiantly something not right way back in 84 when the strike kicked off, all these union men who deserted the NUM to form te UDM soon appeared in brand new top of the range cars and had new homes soon after.

I used to live on Westdale Lane, Gedling at the time of the strike. The police used to park right outside my house at about 5.00 in the morning. They would be using their radios in the cars and for some reason the conversations would come over my alarm clock radio. That was a bit scary the first few times it woke me up I can tell you.

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Grandad,