JSPCA CEO: “We hope we can put this chapter behind us”

Friday 29 November 2019

The JSCPA’s CEO has said she hopes the animal charity can “put this chapter behind us” after her predecessor admitted stealing £300,000 from the charity for his own personal gain.

Debra D’Orleans’ described Stephen Coleman’s fraudulent actions as having a “devastating” impact on the 150-year-old charity, which is still suffering as a result.

More than a year before Coleman’s conviction, Express revealed in June 2018 that the charity was carrying debts of nearly one million.

Today, Coleman pleaded guilty to a total of 19 fraud-related charges, including forging signatures and obtaining false bonuses for himself and colleagues, in the Royal Court.

Pictured: Coleman leaving the Magistrate's Court after he was initially charged.

He has now been remanded in custody until he is sentenced by the Superior Number - a panel of jurats, which only assembles for the most serious cases – on 6 February next year.

Following the hearing this morning, Mrs D’Orleans told Express that Coleman’s decision to plead guilty to all charges had been welcomed by the charity. 

“His acts had a devastating impact on the animal shelter which we are still trying to recover from. We hope now that we can put this chapter behind us and we can concentrate on looking after the animals in our care,” she said.

 “We have had tremendous help from our supporters, sponsors and fundraisers and I would like to say a big thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who stuck by us in all this and helped us get back on our feet.

“We would love to see you at our Christmas yard sale this Saturday afternoon which starts at 14:00 at the Animals’ Shelter.”

Pictured: The JSPCA praised its supporters.

Coleman’s guilty pleas followed what Detective Inspector Lawrence Courtness described as a “complex 18-month investigation” by Jersey’s Joint Financial Crime Unit.

“Faced with the evidence we had painstakingly secured, it is clear that he felt no option but to admit to his crimes in full,” he said, before praising JSPCA staff for their help throughout the investigation.

“Throughout the investigation, the JSPCA has assisted the JFCU in understanding Coleman’s activities, allowing the team to construct the compelling case which has led to today’s result."

Coleman, who was also in the British Army, served as the head of the animal welfare charity between April 2006 and October 2017.

However, he departed the organisation suddenly in summer 2017.

Video: DI Lawrence Courtness read a statement after the Royal Court hearing.

A Police investigation into alleged fraud at the Animals' Shelter was subsequently opened in November of that year. 

Following what they described as a "lengthy and complex investigation", Police finally charged Coleman in August 2019.

The offending he has now admitted spans over a decade between 2007 and 2017, and includes falsely stating on several occasions that he and other employees were entitled to pay rises of between 5% and 17%, which had not been approved by the charity. 

The Gloucestershire native also fraudulently obtained Christmas bonuses for himself and other staff in excess of what the charity had agreed. In 2014, he claimed £17,841.60, when only a bonus equivalent to one week’s pay was due.

Throughout the 10-year period he was Chief Officer of the JSPCA, Coleman took £300,000 of the charity’s income for his own benefit. However, the overall total of the fraud was in the region of £400,000.