A TOWN councillor is facing a potential prison sentence after being convicted of defrauding both the NHS and the union Unison out of sums totalling almost £67,000.

Tanya Tucker, a former Durham county councillor who was elected to Bishop Auckland Town Council last September, was accused of eight counts of fraud.

Two of the offences were as an employee of the North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) of the NHS, and six as an official of Unison’s Northern Regional Health Commissioning Branch.

The 57-year-old mother-of-two, of Walker Drive, Bishop Auckland, denied all eight counts, but, following a fortnight-long trial at Durham Crown Court, she was found guilty by the jury on unanimous guilty verdicts on seven of the eight charges, on Friday afternoon.

The Northern Echo: Councillor Tanya Tucker found guilty of fraud against former NHS employer and the union Unison Picture: THE NORTHERN ECHOCouncillor Tanya Tucker found guilty of fraud against former NHS employer and the union Unison Picture: THE NORTHERN ECHO

Tucker was found not guilty of one of the charges relating to Unison, involving a sum of £6,378.

The offences were said to have been committed on dates between June 2013 and September 2017, during which she was a Unison branch secretary and from 2015 its acting treasurer.

Prosecuting counsel Ian West said as someone, “in pretty much complete control” of the branch, she, “abused her position of trust and plundered branch funds for her own benefit and members of her family”, claiming reimbursements for expenses she claimed to have accrued on union business.

The two offences committed against her employer were both for sums of £14,357, claims purporting to have been submitted by Unison, in which Tucker used log in details of her line manager, who was on leave at the time.

Mr West said it was one claim, but payment was mistakenly duplicated, which gave Tucker a, “war chest” of almost £29,000.

Read more: Bishop Auckland councillor to stand trial for fraud

The money defrauded from Unison by way of expenses was said to have helped Tucker, formerly Tanya Watson, pay for her honeymoon, a car, for hotel stays, shopping and restaurant bills.

When questions began to be asked by Unison she claimed a box containing all her receipts and vouchers had gone missing from a cupboard at her office, at John Snow House, in Durham, and gave various explanations for the expenditure.

She was suspended from her job in November 2018 and dismissed following disciplinary proceedings in October 2019.

Tucker gave “no comment” replies to police questions, which she said was on advice from her lawyer, and maintained her denials of guilt throughout her trial.

Giving evidence she conceded she was notorious for spending any money she could get her hands on and was often heard to plead poverty.

But she claimed any money she gained from Unison was deserved because of the vast amount of time and effort she put in to help members across the country, often in her own time.

Following the jury verdicts, Judge James Adkin adjourned the sentencing for a fortnight to allow for the preparation of background reports on the defendant by the Probation Service.

He bailed Tucker to return to court for sentence on Thursday,  April 8.

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