A former Everton Football Club chief executive has been jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of stealing thousands of pounds from the club’s charity.

Graham Lewis, 44, from the Everton in the Community (EiC) charity, pleaded not guilty to taking £5,000 from the charity’s accounts.

Lewis argued that the money was given by Manchester Metropolitan University to train his staff in research techniques by assessing a project in Shanghai, China.

Sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court earlier this month, Lewis was unanimously found guilty by jurors of one count of stealing.

Speaking after the sentence, Ian Ross, Everton FC’s head of publication relations and trustee of the charity, said: “This was an enormous and disgraceful breach of trust.

“Graham Lewis stole money that was destined for people in this city less fortunate than himself. He not only let down the people the charity was set up to help, but also the people he worked alongside.”

The trial, which lasted for three days in December last year, concluded after hearing from the charity’s finance clerk, Clare Radford. She stated that she was duped into cashing the £5,000 cheque on Lewis’s behalf.

Yet Phillip Tully, defending Lewis, urged the judge to show leniency and to suspend the sentence, due to Lewis’s actions being only “a moment of madness.”

He continued: “He has always conducted himself quite properly and carried out some sterling work on behalf of the charity for many people.”

After leaving EiC in 2008, Lewis also worked for Knowsley Borough Council.