Four-year fraud case was 'hell,' says cleared deputy head

A former deputy head cleared over an alleged £2.7 million bonus scam told today told of his four-year “hell”.

Dr Richard Evans, 55, was one of six senior figures at Copland Community School in Wembley accused of trying to defraud Brent council after a whistleblower raised concerns.

Its then “superhead” Sir Alan Davies, who was decorated for services to education, yesterday admitted six counts of false accounting between April 2007 and June 2009 and was given a 12-month suspended sentence.

But prosecutors at Southwark crown court dropped the conspiracy charge against all six defendants.

Dr Evans, a former education adviser to David Cameron, told the Standard: “It’s four and a half years since I was accused of receiving bonuses and two and a half years since the arrest.

“It has taken four years for the court to dismiss it. This is an accusation that should never have been brought and it has meant four years of hell for both me and my family.

“There has also been a detrimental effect on the students. When I left the Copland it was a thriving school, with 140 going to university each year. Now it’s in special measures.”

Dr Evans, from Arkley in Barnet, who has a PhD in maths, was fired from the specialist science college during the investigation but secured a new job at a state school in Mill Hill in 2010 where he still works.

He said he hoped to keep teaching in the state sector, but added: “I might decide to write on what has gone on. If I can help anyone else in a similar situation then I would like to do that.”

His former colleague, HR manager Michele McKenzie, 53, from Ruislip, said: “I’m pleased we were all cleared and the truth came out in the end because we were innocent.”

Davies, from Mill Hill, was Copland’s head for 20 years until he was suspended and later retired when the allegations of illegal bonus payments, including £900,000 to him, emerged in May 2009.

The Crown originally claimed that Davies, who admitted tampering with dates on payroll forms, had done so to cover up the alleged plot. But he insisted the cash was honestly paid and received, which was accepted by prosecutors. He was also acquitted of laundering £270,000 through a Spanish account.