A former dean of education at Edge Hill University, along with his boyfriend, has today been convicted of defrauding the renowned teacher-training institution out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Robert Smedley, who was also pro-vice-chancellor at the university and sat on the board of governors, was convicted of five counts of fraud. His partner Christopher Joynson - who also worked at Edge Hill as a partnership development officer - was convicted on four counts.
They spent the money on home improvements, including a “luxury kitchen”, police said today.
During the trial, Liverpool Crown Court heard how Smedley gave a job to his partner and then approved invoices for consultancy work from Joynson over a period of five years, which amounted to £513,894.
The offences took place between September 2009 and June 2014 - the year Smedley left the university. The couple had denied the charges.
Fraud funded ‘luxury kitchen’
Detective Constable David Wainwright, from Lancashire’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “I am pleased that the jury have seen through Smedley and Joynson’s lies and found them guilty.
“Smedley was a member of senior management and abused that position for personal gain. He deceived the university, in particular colleagues he had known for many years, and employed Joynson, his lover, in a position that he had simply devised himself.
“Joynson invoiced the university for hours and hours of work that he had not undertaken, sharing the money with Smedley. They used the cash towards expensive home improvements, including a luxury kitchen.
“The financial impact on the university - the innocent victim in all this - cannot be underestimated; between the pair of them, they managed to defraud Edge Hill of over half a million pounds.“
However, the University and College Union’s general secretary, Sally Hunt, said the case raised serious questions. She said: “This case highlights serious questions that the senior management of Edge Hill University have to answer over governance - something UCU has raised in the past.
“Any attempt by the university to portray itself as the victim in this case would be wholly inappropriate. The real victims are taxpayers, students and staff, and the whole sorry episode brutally exposes how a lack of transparency in universities can leave them vulnerable to fraud.”
Edge Hill University has declined to comment until the pair have been sentenced.
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