A charity boss has appeared in court accused of stealing over £50,000 of charity funds to spend on betting on greyhounds, holidays and clothes.

Nuala Magee, former chief executive of the children’s charity Together 4 All, pleaded guilty to 23 counts of false accounting, five counts of transferring criminal property and a single charge of theft.

The 48-year-old appeared in the dock of Craigavon Crown Court last Thursday, alongside her husband Declan Shannon, who stands accused of helping Magee to defraud the charity.

Magee earned £80,000 from her role as chief executive of the charity, according to a report in the Belfast Telegraph, but allegedly diverted cheques from donors into bank accounts belonging to her husband and son.

Shannon admitted two counts of possessing criminal property – a sum of £8,360 – but the court ruled that son Niall Atkinson played no role in the crime.  

The charity specialises in improving the lives of vulnerable children in north Armagh in Northern Ireland.

The fraud continued for two years, between October 2008 and June 2010 and included the theft of a £2,000 laptop from the charity’s office and shopping trips to House of Fraser.

Magee resigned from her role as chief executive following an internal financial review in June 2010.

After her resignation, the couple emigrated to Australia but were ordered by a judge to return to Belfast to face prosecution.

The couple will be sentenced later this week.