A fraudster conned the grieving partner of a Glasgow councillor and ripped off a trust the couple set up in memory of their stillborn child.
Linda Croker and George Ryan created Sean’s Trust to help other families whose babies had died while still in the womb.
Popular politician Mr Ryan suffered a fatal heart attack on October 5 2013 and died at the wheel of his car. He was only 50.
A fortnight later fraudster Karen Fraser oversaw a glittering event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel where dozens of people – including many of Mr Ryan’s former council colleagues - paid £10 per raffle ticket to raise money for the trust.
But Ms Croker never saw a penny of the cash collected on the night and Ms Fraser, who was involved with the running of local newspaper based in the east end, was convicted of fraud yesterday at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Ms Croker, 51, who lives in Mount Vernon with the 13-year-old daughter she had with Mr Ryan, said: “Karen wanted to launch Sean’s Trust at the newspaper’s annual awards in 2013 and said they’d have a £10 raffle on the night.
“She wanted me and George to be there and speak and we were to be given the raffle money for Sean’s Trust. I thought that was amazing.
“Soon after George’s death, I can’t remember whether it was before or after the funeral, she came to the house and brought doughnuts.
“She said we’re still going to go ahead (with the Sean’s Trust raffle) and she’d still like me to come along and say a few words.
“At that point I probably should have said no and asked her to leave me alone. But I felt bad that she’d planned it all so I said I’d come along, although I said I wouldn’t be able to speak because I’d get too emotional.
“So Karen got me to write something up about the trust and she said she’s get someone else to say it on the night.
“She wanted to put one of the family on each table but I told her it wouldn’t work. We were too sad and had to be together.
“So she said that was fine and she’d get back to us.”
The event went ahead in October 2013 and among those in attendance was Councillor George Redmond and Councillor Martin McElroy.
Mr McElroy told the court: “The minimum suggested (for entry to the raffle) was £10, but I know a lot of people put more in. This was because of the relationship they had with Linda and her partner.
“She (Fraser) said all the money that was raised in the envelopes would go to Sean's Trust.”
Ms Croker was there with nine of Mr Ryan’s relatives and their suspicions were raised when there was no announcement about the amount of cash collected.
She said: “We just went along on the night and the family all put a tenner in the envelopes along with everyone else. I wanted someone to say how much money had been taken in. It didn’t happen. I never heard another word about the money after that night.”
The court heard that Ms Fraser, 49, from Larbert, Stirlingshire, had a “lifestyle her income could not support” and took regular trips to a holiday home in Portugal.
Ms Croker said: “If she’d came to me later with a few hundred pounds for Sean’s Trust I’d have been happy with that, but she didn’t.
“I don’t wish anybody any harm. I wish she had come up some money but she didn’t and we are where we are.
“For the sake of a couple of thousand pounds she’s destroyed her reputation, destroyed her credibility.”
Sheriff Neil MacKinnon told Ms Fraser she had “betrayed the trust of those who were entitled to expect substantial honesty from you” and ordered the fraudster to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work within six months.
Speaking outside the court after her sentence, Ms Fraser said: “I'm glad it's over, the communities in the east end and north Glasgow will be a sorrier place through people telling lies, because the paper is now closed and there will be no more community news.”
Meanwhile, Ms Croker is still trying to come to terms with the loss of Mr Ryan, who was her partner of 17 years, and their son, Sean.
She said: “I’m still grieving and I can get very low. At the beginning a lot of people are interested but that all goes away and you’ve just got to get back to normal life. I’m finding this particular period now very tough.
“Straight after George died I was getting up and out into the world but it’s actually more difficult now.
“I’d like to carry on with Sean’s Trust but it’s still too much for me. One day I will do it.”
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