A compassionate individual who auctioned off Alton Towers and Legoland vouchers designated for terminally ill youngsters on eBay has been sentenced to imprisonment.
Heidi Bucknall, 32, embezzled upwards of £30,000 from the Parents’ Association for Seriously Ill Children – the same foundation that supported her family during her childhood battle with illness.
The administrative officer’s primary responsibility involved coordinating with amusement venues and arranging outings or events to provide dying children and their families ‘the chance to share invaluable moments together’.
However, she misappropriated complimentary day passes and sold them online. Following their depletion during the pandemic, she resorted to fabricating unwell children to retain the financial aid they should have received.
During the sentencing of two years and four months, Judge Steven Coupland remarked, ‘It is challenging to conceive of a more abhorrent chain of transgressions.
‘You, of all people, comprehended the commendable efforts of the charitable organization that employed you because you triumphed over cancer as a child yourself.
‘This constituted an egregious betrayal of terminally ill children, as you deprived them and their families of a small glimmer of hope.
‘Your theft was targeted at a corporation but, practically speaking, it was robbing those whom the charity aimed to aid.’
Deliberate Deception and Fraudulent Acts
Abigail Hill, the prosecutor, stated, ‘Between May 22, 2015, and April 22, 2021, this perpetrator systematically and purposely swindled the charity PASIC – the Parents’ Association for Seriously Ill Children – to the sum of slightly over £30,000.
‘The charity, situated at the children’s oncology ward at the QMC in Nottingham, operates with a relatively small team, encompassing only five employees on the payroll.
‘Nonetheless, they furnish invaluable financial and emotional assistance to families during a highly vulnerable period, both at the QMC and at Leicester Royal Infirmary.’
‘The culprit, a survivor of childhood cancer herself, exploited the very charity that once provided her with support in two main ways.
‘Firstly, by retailing gifted vouchers on eBay for theme parks and attractions tailored to offer suffering children and their families the opportunity to relish precious moments together.
‘Secondly, by concocting fictitious cases of sickness and even decease among children to pocket the financial assistance allocated to these fake families.’
Over a span of two years, she pocketed 10 compassionate grants, each amounting to £750, alongside 10 standard payments of £200 each – totaling £9,500.
Defense counsel Gareth Gimson remarked, ‘This is deplorable on every level, there is no other way to paint it.
‘She has embezzled funds from a children’s cancer charity. Put yourself in her shoes – the walls came tumbling down. She carries immense regret for her actions but has confessed during questioning.
‘She has endured three years of sheer dread anticipating this moment. This was not the conduct of a callous staff member. She herself was a victim of childhood cancer.’
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