Disillusioned worker Marie Curie stole £10,000 from charity shop proceeds

A former volunteer at a Marie Curie shop in Shipley has avoided an immediate jail sentence after stealing more than £10,600 while working there.

But as well as giving Naser Pasha a suspended prison sentence, Recorder Simon Jackson KC ordered the 40-year-old to pay compensation to the charity of £150 a month for the next three years.

Pasha, who has some learning difficulties, will have to pay the money back from his own benefits after admitting he stole from the receipts he was supposed to deposit at a nearby bank.

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Prosecutor Chloe Pitches told Bradford Crown Court today (Tuesday) that Pasha, who had no previous convictions, volunteered at the store in Market Square between August 2021 and October 2022.

She said she was trusted to take the daily receipts and deposit them in the bank’s night safe. An audit later revealed that between September 2021 and October 2022, Pasha stole a total of £10,639.46 from the receipts.

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When Pasha, of Hazel Walk, Allerton, Bradford, was arrested by West Yorkshire Police in February 2023, he said he was very sorry and Recorder Jackson noted there was no evidence the defendant lived a lavish lifestyle.

Barrister David Hall, for Pasha, described it as a significant fall from grace for his client.

“You will be sentenced for stealing over a period of approximately 11 months in excess of £10,600 from a charity you work for,” the judge told Pasha. “You are a man with learning disabilities, but you have the ability to work.

“This wasn’t sophisticated, but it was a persistent theft at a time when you trusted yourself despite being picked up for menial duties. You would have known what you did was wrong.

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“There is no suggestion that you lived a lavish lifestyle but stole money from a charity that tries to support people with serious illnesses.”

Recorder Jackson ruled that Pasha’s 18-month prison sentence could be suspended for two years and ordered him to do 150 hours of unpaid work. Pasha will also have to comply with a four-month electronically monitored period at his home between 7pm and 7am.