A MANAGER who conned a charity out of more than £7,000 was jailed yesterday.

Stephen Henry, 30, falsified insurance documents and funeral plans when he worked for the charity for the elderly, Age Concern,

Bosses at the North Tyneside branch challenged Henry over discrepancies in his work as the marketing and fundraising manager, but he covered up his scheme.

Yesterday, he wept as he was jailed for three months by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court, after admitting 11 offences of theft from an employer, and asking for a further 52 to be taken into account.

Judge John Walford told Henry the offences had been aggravated because he was involved with an elderly person's charity and had continued with the deception despite an internal inquiry.

He said: "You were challenged about discrepancies, and to your discredit and regret, you dismissed those allegations, you covered up the discrepancies, and so it was you went on stealing money."

Judge Walford said that he was able to make the jail term shorter because Henry had agreed to repay the money,

After the case, Alma Calduell, Chief Executive Officer of Age Concern in North Tyneside, said: "We would like to assure any of the affected individuals that they will be protected.

"He was challenged on a number of errors, then covered them up and said he had sorted them out.

"He worked here for a year in total and we carried out an internal inquiry and called the police straight away," she said.