News that two former North Wilts League officers appeared for sentencing and were jailed on July 16th at Swindon Crown Court last week is now widespread.
Following the theft of a substantial amount of league money, Margaret Rivers and Karen Prictor had both pleaded guilty in earlier court hearings to various charges made by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Rivers received a prison sentences of 2 years and 4 months, whilst Prictor was jailed for 4 years.
Rivers’ husband Phillip was ordered to do 200 hours community service.
In a statement, league Chairman Andy Ratcliffe made the following comments;
‘The sentencing of July 16th almost brings this whole unsavoury affair to a close, which will be a relief to many people.
When this all started a few years ago, the speed of events was such that a small band of us were forced to either walk away from an unwanted nightmare scenario – or stay and fight.
Many close friends and fellow committee members provided unswerving support throughout the three long years that it took to get justice for the innocent member clubs and committee of the NWYFL.
The FA’s Mark Ives provided a professional and supportive approach which was valuable beyond belief. We became reliant upon his stoic support for the cause and his uncanny ability to time FA directives and advice with sometimes devastating effect, which continually maintained good spirits.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the NWYFL would still be haemorrhaging vast sums of money were it not for Marks continued involvement.
To all the above: On behalf of all clubs, now is the time to publically say a massive THANKYOU.
Sometime early in the 2015/16 season the committee will call a compulsory League Disclosure Meeting which will be attended by both the County FA and the FA. The purpose of that meeting is to provide clubs with as much of the detailed information that surrounds the fraud case as possible. The date and venue will of course follow as soon as possible.
Those who’ve attended the numerous gatherings we’ve held in the last couple of years will know that this league is very much back on track, it has a healthy bank balance and a dedicated committee that continue to ensure that it fulfils its primary purpose and also moves forward diligently.
As a committee, we’ll make sure that continues on into the future.
All the best,
Andy
