BGT semi-finalist James Edgington stole £20,000 to fund gay rights charity – Metro.co.uk
A former Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist has been found to have stolen almost £20,000 in cash to fund his gay rights charity.
James Edginton, 39, who appeared on the show in 2010 and reduced judge Amanda Holden to tears with his version of This is the Moment from the musical Jekyll and Hyde alongside his father Graham, is said to have stolen float money and claimed on fake invoices as well as illegally selling complimentary tickets.
Edgington pleaded guilty to fraud, attempted fraud and theft after illegally selling complimentary tickets for a one-man show by Lord of The Rings star Sir Ian McKellen, as well as diverting proceeds from other productions into his own account.
He had been caught while working as Theatre and Events Programmes Coordinator at the Albert Halls in Bolton, Greater Manchester, after a colleague discovered the venue’s float was missing £737 and it was later found that Edginton had gone into the safe seven times without permission to take money from the float, as well as faking invoices to the producers for £16,539.
Inquiries revealed that the singer and actor had made a further £2,485 by illegally selling 71 complimentary tickets for McKellen’s show in 2019 which marked his 80th birthday, which he had sold for £35 each when they were meant to be reserved for VIP guests to have for free.
The total amount found to be missing was claimed to be £20,187 according to council officials which Edgington had used to back a finance deal with his Bolton Pride Charity.
The charity had been founded in 2015 and backed by McKellen as well as Coronation Street’s Antony Cotton
Edgington was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with Bolton Crown Court ordering him to repay £16,539 as compensation to Bolton council as well as completing 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty.
The actor had admitted to the theft following an internal investigation when the money was found to be missing, and was suspended after official disciplinary measures.
As part of the investigation, the council were granted an order to access Edgington’s work emails, where it was found he credited outstanding bills from external events producers to his own bank account and used the concert hall’s letterhead on false invoices.
Defence lawyer Nick Ross said the theft of the float money was for personal gain and that Edgington has since paid back £600 of the £737, adding: ‘He was under huge financial pressure and at the time he needed to fund the Pride charity he was running due to a big sponsor pulling out, which left the charity £15,000 down.
‘He took out a personal loan to finance Pride but the stolen funds were then used to fill the gaps in finances at the time.’
He added that Edgington faced further pressure due to his grandmother falling ill at the same time, saying it was a ‘lapse of judgment’ and the court heard that the singer was suffering from depression and on medication for anxiety.
Mr Ross told the court: ’His behaviour can be put down to him trying to sort out everything by himself. There was nothing clever, nothing sophisticated about it. He dealt with things in a very foolish and naïve way. He has a hitherto impeccable character.
‘It was his own pride that stopped him from seeking help. It is a cliché is it not, that pride comes before a fall, well this was his pride and today is his fall.’
Judge Mr Recorder Nicholas Williams told Edgington during sentencing: ‘These actions were not just inappropriate but thoroughly dishonest and you abused your position of power and trust.
‘This was not a one-off or a moment of madness but was sustained conduct over a period of time.’
A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: ‘The council has a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud or any action which diverts valuable resources away from local taxpayers.
‘Appropriate action was taken as soon as the council became aware of this issue. We have fully supported Greater Manchester Police in their investigation, and we would like to thank them for their work on this case.’
Edgington has previously raised over £100,000 for charities and also founded a project called Jen, helping widowed fathers deal with bereavement after his own mother, Jennifer, died in a car accident when he was four.
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