The former business manager of a Catholic charity is facing jail after admitted defrauding her employer out of nearly £250,000.

Melanie Goodwin, 57, abused her position at Parents, Children, Teachers (PACT) educational trust in Croydon for her own gain between February 2010 and August 2014.

She pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud today at Croydon Magistrates Court.

PACT, founded by members of the controversial Catholic order Opus Dei, runs three independent schools in Croydon: the Laurels secondary school for girls and the Cedars secondary for boys, both in Coombe Road, and Oakwood primary school and nursery in Godstone Road, Purley.

The total amount Mrs Goodwin defrauded the charity out of was £245,723.27.

Jake Taylor, defending Mrs Goodwin, said that while his client admitted all the charges there was "one slight area of contention" regarding £20,000 that she claimed was owed to her in travel expenses.

He also said that Mrs Goodwin, of Oxfordshire, had been paying back the stolen money.

District Judge Andrew Sweet ordered Mrs Goodwin to appear at Croydon Crown Court at a later date, telling her: “My sentencing powers are not sufficient for the amounts involved here".

When contacted by the Croydon Guardian, Matthew Sherwood, the chief exective of PACT, said the fraud was discovered after Mrs Goodwin left the charity.

He said: "While preparing our 2013/14 financial accounts it became apparent that our charity had been a victim of a fraud. 

"We investigated immediately and provided our full findings to the police. We also reported the incident to the Charity Commission."

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