A first-tier tribunal has upheld the regulator’s decision to stop a convicted criminal from becoming a trustee at a charity which runs arts projects in prisons.
The Charity Commission refused Lee Gary Brown’s waiver request that would have seen him hold a non-executive leadership role at East London Metropolitan Opera (ELMO).
In 2018, Brown pleaded guilty to three counts of rape of a child under 13, one count of attempted rape of a child under 13 and one count of sexual assault of a child under 13.
He was sentenced to four years in prison but released two years later, subsequently volunteering for the Howard League for Penal Reform (HLPR), which then referred him to ELMO in 2023.
Brown worked as a research fellow from June 2022 and became an operations coordinator in September that year at HLPR, serving as a volunteer adviser at ELMO.
In 2023, Brown was introduced by HLPR to ELMO’s trustee board but due to his conviction had to apply to waive his automatic disqualification.
A year later, the regulator refused Brown’s waiver given the serious nature of his offences, public trust and confidence considerations, citing an inadequate ELMO risk assessment.
In the commission’s skeleton argument to the first-tier tribunal, the regulator also took issue with the lack of an open recruitment process.
Victoria Holt Eze, ELMO chair, admitted her charity had not considered how to protect Brown, who has autism, from being manipulated into similar or different offending, or how to mitigate this.
Dr Halari, who produced a psychological report on the appellant, stated: “Brown does not have a good enough understanding of what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate relationships.
“He struggles to understand and respond to social cues and others’ emotions and intentions.”
Andrea Coomber, HLPR chief executive, confirmed to Civil Society that it had supported an employee through the tribunal process.
“[We] believed it to be an important issue for judges to consider,” Coomber, who acted as a witness for Brown at the tribunal, added.
ELMO ‘naïve’ in supporting trustee bid
The judge said in their tribunal report that ELMO’s support of Brown, while lacking a full risk assessment, showed “naivety” despite being “well-intentioned”.
“It became apparent in oral evidence that ELMO has not meaningfully engaged with an assessment of risk to the charity including reputational risk,” the tribunal report reads.
ELMO was also found to have “relied heavily” on the recommendation of HLPR, a larger charity, and subsequently received no guidance on the waiver process.
“Their assessment of risk is not robust and was limited to a singular consideration regarding the risk of reoffending,” the tribunal report reads.
Brown and the two charities placed “significant weight” on his disabilities to reduce culpability for prior offending without considering how this may give rise to future risk in a senior or trustee position, the report states.
Despite rejecting the appeal, the tribunal acknowledged Brown’s passion for the charity sector.
“We express the hope that he will continue the clearly valuable work he provides to the sector both as an employee of HLPR and as a voluntary advisor to ELMO,” its report states.
Brown will be able to seek a review of the indefinite notification requirements in 2035.
ELMO declined a request for comment.
