A TRUSTEE of a charity founded by a teenage cancer sufferer has blasted the sentence handed to a mother who defrauded it out of thousands of pounds.

Haley McTaggart scammed Alice’s Escapes – set up by late ‘bucket list’ teen Alice Pyne, of Ulverston – to the tune of £2,000 by persuading the charity to foot the bill for a fundraising trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The 33-year-old admitted failing to repay the money to the charity, which provides holidays in Cumbria for seriously ill children and their families.

When she tried to pay the money back, the cheque bounced.

She had previously blamed a banking error but investigations found no attempts had been made to transfer the money.

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Sentencing McTaggart at Carlisle Crown Court, Recorder John Corless said she had committed an “unpleasant and serious” offence.

But after hearing mitigation on her behalf, the judge suspended a ten month prison sentence for two years.

Cathy Broomfield, a trustee of Alice’s Escapes, described the late teenager as an 'utterly amazing' individual and slammed McTaggart’s sentence, saying: “It is almost impossible to get the words together."

The 40-year-old told the Gazette: “We have had, as a charity, over two years of stress and police interviews.

"Vicky (Alice’s mother) herself has been personally affected. The reason we have pushed this through, legally, is that we wanted to protect the name of the charity.

“Reflecting on what the defendant has put us through, personally and as a charity, we would have expected a custodial sentence.”

The court heard McTaggart, of Cambridge Road, Whitehaven also sold raffle tickets for a bogus raffle in the charity’s name.

However, it was found that no prizes existed for any draw, nor was any cash handed over.

Brendan Burke, prosecuting, told the crown court hearing a Whitehaven bar owner had offered to host a function at which McTaggart’s bogus raffle was supposed to be drawn.

Having donated prizes and bought tickets, the bar owner was later told, falsely, she had won a number of others.

McTaggart’s crime came to light when the bar owner attempted to redeem a voucher at a cake store in West Cumbria.

The court heard McTaggart befriended Mrs Pyne during the Keswick to Barrow charity walk.

McTaggart contacted her a few weeks later to indicate her interest in going on the Tanzania trip, where it was planned to scatter Alice’s ashes.

Of the overall fraud against Alice’s Escapes, Mr Burke said: “The Crown say this is a particularly mean offence primarily involving someone in a vulnerable state, causing them lasting damage and upset.”

Mr Burke summarised a victim impact statement provided by Mrs Pyne, and added: “She speaks of the profound upset, unsurprisingly, given the circumstances in the aftermath of her daughter’s death.”

The court was told McTaggart had paid £2,750 back to the charity since committing the offences, and had raised an additional £3,000 before the trek.

Clare Thomas, mitigating, said McTaggart - the mother of an 11-year-old son - was “extremely remorseful”.

Miss Thomas said: “She is well able now, looking at the matter, to understand the distress that her actions have caused - not just her actions themselves but the ongoing court proceedings. She has found her offending very difficult to come to terms with.

“She is frankly terrified at the prospect of what might happen today.”

McTaggart admitted two counts of fraud by false representation, and also the theft of $300 from Sharon Platt, given to her while on the trek to pay for porters.

This money was still outstanding, the court heard.

The judge ordered she must undergo supervision and observe a four-month night-time curfew.

Alice, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma aged 13, inspired millions of people worldwide after publishing a ‘bucket list’ of things she wanted to achieve before she died.

The list went viral online and, as it caught media attention, she attracted support around the world to make her dreams come true.

Alice’s Escapes was founded in 2012 by Alice, who at the time was aged 16.

She was, along with her younger sister, Milly, a recipient of the British Empire Medal in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to charity.

Before she lost a five-year battle against cancer in 2013, she became a Pride of Britain Teenager of Courage award winner.