A 69-year-old Lincolnshire man has been sent to prison for two years after being convicted of stealing more than £40,000 from an education charity.

Michael Thompson stole £42,000 from the Mukherjee Brothers Charitable Trust between December 2009 and December 2010. He had been suspended from the board during the investigation and his appointment has now been terminated.

Following the death of the charity's founder Sibu Mukherjee in 2009, trustees asked Lincolnshire County Council for an independent audit of the accounts. The audit found discrepancies which were then reported to the police.

Thompson has also been ordered to repay the money to the Trust, which supports primary schools in Lincolnshire.

Investigating officer DC Nick Hakes of Lincoln CID, said: “If Mr Thompson had continued with his criminal activity unchecked he could have risked the future of the Trust.”

Thompson had been involved with the charity since it was founded by Sibu Mukherjee. Arthur Ridings, chairman of the Trust, said: “Trustees are particularly sad that the trust placed in Mr Thompson by the late Sibu Mukherjee, the Trust's founder, was so cynically abused.”

Ridings told civilsociety.co.uk that the charity is "now very healthy and able to provide much-needed funding to primary schools".