YOU stole from the terminally ill.

Those were the words used by a judge when sentencing the former finance manager of a Hampshire hospice who pocketed donations made towards the cost of providing vital services.

Simon Plummer was working at Oakhaven Hospice, Lymington, when he took more than £13,000 and used it to finance building work at his home.

Oakhaven provides a raft of services for people suffering from cancer and other life-limiting illnesses.

The hospice costs more than £4m a year to run but only 11 per cent of the cash comes from the NHS, leaving it heavily reliant on fundraising and donations.

Appearing at Southampton Crown Court, Plummer, of Widden Close, Sway, was handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

The 41-year-old father of three, who admitted fraud, was also ordered to pay £350 costs, complete 300 hours of unpaid work and observe a 10pm-5am curfew for six months.

The judge, Gary Burrell QC, told him: “You deserve to feel shame – you stole from the terminally ill.

“Oakhaven is a well-respected and important charitable hospice. It needs all the money it can raise and you have taken that money from them.

“If you had not paid the money back, and paid it back as quickly as you did, I would be sending you to prison.

“This was a tremendous breach of trust that could easily have affected dying people. It was a dreadful thing to do.”

Plummer stole the cash between November 11, 2015 and August 23 last year.

James Kellam, prosecuting, said the defendant was subjected to a disciplinary hearing after his crimes came to light. He repaid all the money but was sacked from the post he had held for eight years.

Mr Kellam added: “When the police became involved he admitted the matter immediately, both at the police station and in court at the first hearing.”

Plummer sat in the dock with his head bowed as details of his crime were read out.

Keely Harvey, in mitigation, said: “I have spoken to him on a couple of occasions and have seen the genuine shame he feels at what he has done – what he has done to Oakhaven and what he has done to his family.”

Ms Harvey said the defendant was once convicted of drink-driving but apart from that was a person of previous good character.

She added: “This did not start out as a fraud but that’s what it became over a period of time after things got on top of him and he lost control of what he was doing.”

Speaking after the case an Oakhaven spokesman said: “When financial irregularities were uncovered Mr Plummer was immediately suspended and an internal investigation launched.

“Following that investigation Mr Plummer was dismissed and the matter reported to the Charity Commission and the police.

“Oakhaven has in place a strong set of financial procedures, which the swift resolution of this matter internally clearly demonstrates. The public and all our supporters can be assured that fundraised income and donations are safe and secure.

“We can also confirm that all of the money relevant to this case has been fully recovered.”