An accountant who lived beyond his means by plundering the coffers of the charity he worked for has been jailed.

David Wilford syphoned nearly £140,000 from the accounts of charity Headway Hurstwood Park, based in Newick, near Lewes.

He diverted the money to pay off huge credit card debts he had run up and even paid off his wife’s Tesco credit card bills without telling her.

Wilford, 67, who lives in Dyall Close, Burgess Hill, became the charity’s secretary and accountant in 2002.

He began stealing funds after a colleague left blank cheques to be countersigned while on holiday in 2006.

Wilford wrote himself a cheque for more than £7,000 and then discovered a flaw in Headway’s accounting system that allowed him to divert money straight into his own account.

His dishonesty was only discovered after he was sacked in June 2009 for gross misconduct.

Wilford did not even tell his family what he was doing and his wife of 45 years did not suspect because he always paid the bills and controlled the family finances.

He even hid the fact that he had been questioned by police about his dishonesty, Lewes Crown Court was told yesterday.

Wilford confessed to detectives what he had done and gave them a detailed account of the 130 illegal transactions he had carried out over three years.

Dale Sullivan, prosecuting, said the missing money was discovered when accountants were called in after Wilford was sacked.

He has since repaid all the money he stole, as well as interest and the bill for the charity’s legal fees.

Ed Fish, defending, said Wilford had no previous convictions and was formerly secretary of Burgess Hill in Bloom. He held a similar position in a caravan and camping club and taught numeracy to adultswithlearningdifficulties.

Mr Fish added: “His family support him and his son and mother-in-law have re-mortgaged their homes to help him repay the charity.

“He has been an accountant for 40 years and finds it extremely difficult to come up with a reason for what he did.

“This has put considerable strain on his relationship with his wife and it will take time to rebuild that trust.

“He fully accepts he was responsible for taking the money and it was dishonest.”

Judge Michael Lawson, QC, jailed Wilford for two years and four months.

He said: “It is hard to have to sentence somebody of your previous good character, aged 67, who has led a thoroughly decent life but then fallen so dramatically below what is expected. You stole from a position where you were entrusted with the financial probity of a charity.”

Gerry Harris, chief executive of the charity, said: “I am glad we have got the money back and we can now draw a line under it. The main thing is the charity and our clients have not lost out.”