A HEALTH trust which employed a former BBC manager jailed for three years after fraudulently paying himself £155,000 for non-existent works says it has found no evidence of NHS funds being inappropriately used.

Lee Richardson had been working in the estates and facilities team at Sussex Partnership NHS Trust when the allegations against him, which dated back to between 2009 and 2011, first came to light in April.

He was suspended and later resigned.

The trust said it carried out exhaustive checks to make sure NHS funds had not been used to procure services from companies where Richardson, from Surbiton, London, was listed as a director and it was satisfied this had not happened.

The trust said it would be concluding its own investigations now the court case was over.

The case related to when Richardson, from Surbiton, London, was working at the BBC as a frameworks contracts manager.

The BBC manager was jailed for three years after fraudulently paying himself £155,000.