News
Church worker steals £100,000 from charity donations
A church worker, Francisca Yawson who was employed to handle donations received by the Diocese of Westminster, was later found to have stolen £100,000 from the donations.
She stole the money from Diocese of Westminster to fund her “high lifestyle” and was fined £1,000.
Francisca Yawson, 38, stole from charity donations between September 2018 and August 2019.
The mother of four had been employed as a “Gift Aid and Operations Technician” at the Roman Catholic diocese, which included Westminster Cathedral, since 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She bought her family presents from John Lewis and transferred £8,500 to Jamaica to help pay medical bills for her grandmother.
Yawson, of Stonebridge Park, north-west London, admitted nine counts of theft totalling £96,331 at Southwark Crown Court.
In an impact statement, Nicholas Seed, the Diocese’s chief financial officer, said: “The gift aid money stolen is not an abstract number of a spreadsheet. Her actions reverberated beyond this courtroom into every corner of our community.
“We are deeply saddened by Ms Yawson’s betrayal and the harm it has caused to our charitable mission.”
Sentencing Yawson, Judge Mark Weekes referred to a 2021 conviction for defrauding her partner’s mother of £16,000.
“It might be thought that once bitten twice shy, but it would appear not,” the judge said. “It seems that temptation overwhelmed you again for reasons that are not entirely clear.”
Yawson claimed that she stole the money to support her grandmother in Jamaica who suffers from leukaemia but the judge said the money she had sent there was “dwarfed” by the amount “you spent on yourself”.
‘Small children went hungry’
In October, Judge Weekes was forced to postpone sentence as Yawson was about to give birth to her fourth child.
The judge said that people in need missed out on money from charitable donations because of Yawson, adding: “Small children, like the ones you look after, went hungry or more hungry while you helped yourself to a high lifestyle.”
Ryan Evans, defending, said Yawson felt remorse and knew she had done wrong. He added that removing Yawson from her three-month-old baby would have a “detrimental impact on both parties”.
Judge Weekes said Yawson did not “present a high risk of reoffending or harm” despite her previous conviction.
Referring to “shocking delays” in the case, which was brought in 2019, he sentenced her to two years in prison suspended for two years.
Yawson will also have to complete 15 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement, 150 hours of unpaid work, and pay £1,000 in compensation to the diocese within 12 months.
She will also have to abide by a five-month electronically tagged curfew between 7pm and 6am.
News
Breaking: Court of Appeal rules in favour of Turaki -led PDP candidate for Osun governorship election
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, ruled that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Gubernatorial Candidate in Osun State was validly nominated by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee.
The court also ordered INEC to list the PDP logo on the ballot ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
The Court held that access code is neither a creation of the Constitution nor the Electoral Act; rather, a creation of INEC’s guidelines and cannot, in any way, override the provisions of the Constitution.
Section 288 of the Constitution does not specify the method for nominating candidates; it only states that the names of candidates should be forwarded to the Commission.
The court further held that the defendant (INEC) should take steps to include the name of the appellant on the ballot paper.
Additionally, the court ruled that the primary election conducted by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP was a valid primary election in law.
The three-man panel of justices—Justice Mahmud, Justice Jaro, and Justice Ankawere, was unanimous in its judgment.
News
Breaking: NHRC sets up situation room to monitor and document hate speech, intimidation, threat to life ahead 2027
The national Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has set up a situation room to monitor and document all incidences of hate speech, intimidation and threat to life by politicians and other actors ahead of the 2027 general election.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerns over rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and outright threat to life by highly placed individuals, especially politicians and religious leaders.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chef Tony Ojukwu, SAN, revealed this on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference.
He said the situation room would enable the Commission harvest data, analysis and document persons, agencies and others involved in the negative statements in order to ensure they are properly tracked and brought to book by relevant agencies.
Ojukwu also took journalists on a tour of the newly set up situation room.
Details later…..
News
Breaking: NHRC expresses concern over rising incidences of hate speech, threat to life ahead 2027 elections
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerns over rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and outright threat to life by highly placed individuals, especially politicians and religious leaders.
At a press conference in Abuja Thursday, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chef Tony Ojukwu, SAN, recalled statements credited to Senator Francis Fadahunsi and Sheikh Yahya Jingir and described the das dangerous with capacity to set the nation ablaze.
He called on politicians, religious and traditional rulers, among other stakeholders to call their supporters and faithful to orders.
He urged government to act before rhetorics turn to violence, saying the forthcoming election in Osun State should serve as example of Nigeria’s capacity to conduct political contest in compliance with international best practices.
Details later…..
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