The chairman of a football club tried to con his local council out of a Covid grant by claiming a derelict and tumbledown shed was actually a gym, a court has heard. Owen Duggan falsely made a bid for £4,000 in pandemic support by claiming the shed was a facility used by players of the club but a visit to the site by a suspicious inspector revealed the truth. After a council investigation the police were called in and the defendant found himself in the dock of Swansea Crown Court charged with fraud.
The court heard Duggan is "a true man of the community" and is embarrassed and ashamed of the fake claim he made on behalf of his club. His barrister pointed out that during the pandemic "all manner of claims" were made by a range of people and organisations and "very few of those claims will ever be scrutinised".
Jim Davis, prosecuting, told the court that at the time of the offence Duggan was chairman of Fishguard Sports AFC in Pembrokeshire, which for 80 years until 2017 had played its home matches at St Mary's Field, a plot of land owned by Dioceses of St David's. He said under the terms of an oral agreement struck in 1947 the club would pay a "small amount for rent" annually for use of the field. The court heard that in 2017 the club moved to a new home at Tregroes Park and at that point it emerged it had not paid any rent on St Mary's for the last decade. The church subsequently paid for changing rooms at St Mary's to be demolished but due to issues about insurance liability a derelict shed at the site was left in place and access to the field was closed.
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The prosecutor said in June and October of 2020 Duggan made applications to Pembrokeshire Council on behalf of the club for Covid funds under schemes designed to support businesses and organisations as they dealt with the restrictions which came in the wake of the pandemic. The first grant was in the sum of £10,000 and the second for £1,000. Both these applications were properly made and were paid. However in the January of the following year the defendant made a third application, for £4,000 of support, in regard to the St Mary's ground and in which he claimed the shed at the site was a gym used by the club.
Mr Davis said an inspection of the site was carried out and it was found the shed was "very dilapidated and had not been used for some considerable time" and no evidence could be found it had been used as gym. An internal investigation was carried out and then the police were alerted to what appeared to be a fraudulent application. The defendant was arrested and questioned and denied any wrongdoing. Mr Davis said it was the prosecution case that the assertion that the St Mary's shed was being used as a gym was "entirely untrue".
Owen Duggan, aged 41, of Heol Dewi, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Derek Perry, for Duggan, described the defendant as "a true man of the community" who contributed a great deal to his local area. He said it was an unusual case in that even if the application had been successful the defendant would not have personally benefited from the money by the risk he was taking in making, what it was accepted, was a dishonest claim about the gym and he said at the time the records showed the club was not actually in financial difficulties in any case. The barrister said Duggan was a decent man who was "extremely remorseful, embarrassed, and ashamed" at finding himself in the dock and at the "cloud" the incident had cast over the club and his family. Mr Perry said the father of two had already paid a high price for his actions as he had quit his job with Pembrokeshire Council though his role had been unconnected to the application or the application process. The barrister said that during the pandemic "all manner of claims" were made by a range of people and organisations and while some people seemed to do very well out of the schemes others did not, adding: "Very few of those claims will ever be scrutinised."
Judge Paul Hobson told the defendant: "You are not being sentenced for getting into a muddle or for making an honest mistake. You are being sentenced for fraud. Your actions were thoroughly dishonest". The judge said in his view the fact the fraud involved Covid funds was an aggravating factor and he said people who abused those funds could ordinarily expect a prison sentence. Judge Hobson said he accepted Duggan was remorseful for his actions and that the loss of his good character would be a punishment in itself for him. He also noted the motivation had not been personal gain but he told the defendant he had been "risking the club's good name" by what he did. Duggan was sentenced to a 12-month community order and must complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs. The court heard the football club tried to return the money from the fist two grants even though they had been properly obtained but that proved impossible and the money ended up in some sort of leisure fund at the local authority.
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