Shropshire Star

Son admits forging doctor's note for father charged with sexual abuse

A 35-year-old man forged part of a doctor’s note to claim that his father was not well enough to travel to Telford where he was due to be charged with allegations of historic sexual abuse.

Published
Gareth Whiteley forged a note saying his father Carl was not fit to travel to Telford's Malinsgate Police Station

Gareth Whiteley had added the words ‘not fit to travel’ in a ‘crude and clumsy’ attempt at forgery.

The words were written on a medical certificate from the GP of Whiteley’s 62-year-old father two years ago.

Whiteley was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Peter Barrie said the defendant had tried to justify a reason for Carl Whiteley not to travel to Telford in a case which had been derailed by his ill-health.

“It was a crude and clumsy attempt at forgery intended to delay Carl Whiteley’s trial,” he said.

Whiteley, of Darleston, Hollinswood, Telford, who had admitted a charge of forgery, was also ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work and pay £250 costs.

Miss Sharonjit Bahia, prosecuting, said Carl Whiteley had been due to attend Telford police station in January 2015, but the medical note was sent a few days earlier.

She said it indicated Carl Whiteley had problems with asthma and his breathing, but it was clear the words ‘not fit to travel’ had been added.

The defendant later told police he wrote the words because he believed the doctor would have agreed that his father was too ill to make the journey.

Mr Kevin Jones, for Gareth Whiteley, said: “It was from a long-standing and misguided loyalty and he believed that his father was unfit travel and added the words to the medical certificate. It was a foolish decision,” he said.

Carl Whiteley, of Dinmore Avenue, Blackpool, whose trial is scheduled to be heard at Shrewsbury Crown Court on May 14, denies 20 allegations of historic sexual abuse said to have been committed in the 1980s.

He remains on bail.

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