A former Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist owes Bolton Council more than £16,500 after abusing his position as an events coordinator at Albert Halls theatre. James Edgington defrauded the council out of thousands of pounds and stole hundreds more from a safe, while working at the council-owned venue between February 2019 and March 2021.
Edgington, who appeared alongside his dad as the singing act ‘Father and Son’ in series 4 of the ITV show, has avoided jail after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud, attempted fraud, and theft. The 39-year-old, of Thicketford Road, Tonge Moor, is the founder of Bolton Pride and he took the money in a “flawed attempt to plug a financial hole” after a sponsor pulled out of 2019’s festival, Bolton Crown Court heard.
His deception was uncovered after it was discovered that £737 was missing from a safe and Bolton Council launched an investigation on March 2 2021, prosecution barrister David Wilcock told the court. During the disciplinary process, Edgington’s employers discovered emails from producers to Edgington, discussing payment for renting out rooms at Albert Halls for shows.
On nine occasions, he gave his own bank details instead of those of the venue, pocketing the payments. He also attempted to sell 71 complimentary tickets to a Sir Ian McKellen show at £35 each.
At a disciplinary hearing on March 17, Edgington admitted to his crimes and paid back £600. He formally offered his resignation on April 11 and it was accepted five days later. Bolton Council reported Edgington’s misconduct to the police and he attended a voluntary interview in October 2021, where he made full admissions.
Defending, Nicholas Ross asked for full credit for Edgington’s guilty plea, as well as “providing the highest level of cooperation” with the police and the council. “He has made every effort to rectify matters at the earliest opportunity,” Mr Ross said.
Mr Ross spoke of Edgington’s charity work - including with the Jen Charity - which was set up by his father Graham after the death of Edgington’s mother in a road crash when he was just four months old. He added that Edgington, who has no previous convictions, has “a hitherto impeccable character”.
Of Edgington’s crimes, Mr Ross said: “He tried to deal things in his own way, in a naïve and dishonest fashion.” He continued: “[It is] a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, but he was not Paul.”
Mr Ross told the court that it is testament to Edgington’s character that he has since secured another job with The Coro venue in Cumbria - where he works as head of programming - and said that his new employers are fully aware of the criminal proceedings.
The judge, Recorder Nicholas Williams sentenced Edgington to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. Making reference to a letter that Edgington wrote the court in which he described his actions as ‘inappropriate’, Recorder Williams said: “They weren’t just inappropriate, they were thoroughly dishonest.”
He added: “[This] cannot be called a moment of madness. It was repeated and ongoing.”
Recorder Williams ordered Edgington to pay Bolton Council £16,539, including the outstanding £137 he stole from the safe. As part of his suspended sentence, Edgington will also have to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
Following the hearing, a spokesman 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.”
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