A TREASURER stole almost £8,000 from an Ainsworth church not long after he had been appointed, a court heard.

Harry Taylor, aged 62, took the cash by making out cheques to himself or cheques payable to cash.

He did not spend it on wild living or luxuries, but used the money to pay bills and to help people he was involved in caring for.

Bolton Crown Court heard from the trustees of the Cockey Moor Protestant Dissenting Chapel Endowment Charity that Taylor's actions had caused great distress to the elderly trustees.

Taylor, who had no previous convictions, received a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years for theft and false accounting.

Judge Derwin Hope said the offences were a serious breach of trust mitigated by the fact he had repaid the money with interest and had admitted the charges from the beginning.

He said because he was caring for three adults, including his 82-year-old mother, there were exceptional circumstances to suspend the sentence.

Taylor, aged 62, of Rochdale Old Road, Bury, admitted six charges of theft and one of false accounting.

Prosecutor Maisie Burke said Taylor had been a regular member of the charity funded Ainsworth Presbyterian Church in Knowsley Road, Ainsworth, in Bury.

He was appointed treasurer to look after the charity's four separate bank accounts.

The total cash missing amounted to £7,958. Taylor later repaid £8,500.