Former chairman of Biggleswade Rugby and Squash Club cleared of fraud

Michael Adams was said to have presented the club with fake invoices to the tune of £4,000 for which it had been alleged he then received the money.

But his acquittal today came after he told Luton Crown Court the club had been his life and he had never acted dishonestly.

Everything he said he had put through the club was for items and materials used by the club and the invoices had been produced to cover what he’d paid out.

Mr Adams, 51, of Dickens Court, Biggleswade, had pleaded not guilty to false accounting and fraud.

The offences were said to have been committed during the summer of 2016 when he held the position of chairman of the club.

Mr Adams was said to have presented an invoice to the club for £200, which was supposedly a bill for some architectural drawings that had been done.

But the court was told today the drawings had been produced by club member and architectural designer Thomas O’Connor who had said he would do the drawings for free as a favour to the club.

Mr Adams told the jury: “I was not trying to make a gain for myself, it was trying to cover for money I had spent.”

His barrister Andrew Kerry asked him: “Have you ever taken money for reimbursement that was for you personally?”

He replied: “Never”

Mr Kerry then asked him: “Have you ever claimed money with the intention that the rugby club should lose out?”

Mr Adams’s said: “Absolutely not, the club was my life.”

After the hearing Mr Adams told the Biggleswade Chronicle he was relieved about the result.

“I’m very relieved and very pleased,” he said. “It should never have gone to court.”