Shropshire Star

School fees swindle major faces the sack

A distinguished war hero faces being booted out of the Army in disgrace after swindling nearly £50,000 to have his son educated at a top Shropshire prep school.

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Major Andrew Stanton, 44, of the Royal Logistics Corps, dishonestly claimed an MoD educational allowance to which he was not entitled, a Crown Court heard.

He pretended he was the prime carer for his son, which would have made him eligible to receive a Continuity of Education Allowance to meet the cost of sending the boy, now 15, to Packwood Haugh School in?Ruyton-XI-Towns, where fees are £6,215 a term for boarders and £4,973 for day pupils.

But in fact the teenager's chief carer was the defendant's ex-wife Charlotte Galliers-Flight, who lived in Shrewsbury, the court at Guildford, Surrey, was told.

"It meant that Stanton was not entitled to receive the allowance," said William Davis, prosecuting.

The Continuity of Education Allowance is paid to service personnel to avoid disruption to the education of their children caused by their need to move frequently as part of their military duties.

Stanton, of Aisne Road, Deepcut, Surrey, narrowly escaped being jailed after being found guilty of fraud following an eight-day trial.

The court heard that the sum involved had been £46,461.

The respected army officer is now at risk of being discharged from the Army following a glittering military career stretching back 20 years.

"Your future in the Army remains uncertain," said the judge, Mr Recorder Antonio Bueno.

Stanton, who had denied fraud, was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to pay £3,500 costs.

But the real blow facing the major, the court heard, would be the probable loss of his job .

Between April 2007 and October 2010, he was dishonestly claiming the allowance from the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Recorder Bueno said: "This was systematic fraud committed over a period of nearly four years. It was a serious breach of trust by a man who should have known a great deal better."

Mr Recorder Bueno said he acknowledged that the defendant had been motivated by a genuine desire to do the best for his son, and he accepted that the major had been going through a traumatic time in his personal life.

The court heard that Ms Galliers-Flight had died from cancer in October 2011, aged 44.

Ms Fiona Edington, defending, agreed that her client was in serious danger of being drummed out of the Army.

She added Stanton had repaid all the money and had already made a substantial contribution towards his legal aid.

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