The owner of a women's refuge has been jailed after embezzling over £50,000 out of various charities.

Parvinder Matharu, 60, filed applications for charitable grants - which she then pocketed for herself. The applications were made on behalf of non-existent vulnerable adults.

Matharu headed Sewak Housing Services - a refuge supporting BAME women in Slough - for many years.

At Reading Crown Court today (May 23), Judge Heather Norton said that Matharu exploited her reputation in the voluntary sector to defraud other charities.

Judge Norton said: "Those charities provided grants for some of the most vulnerable people in society, and the frauds that you committed were frauds which, ultimately, will have reduced the aid available to those most vulnerable people in society."

Matharu, a resident of Iver in Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty on five counts of fraud, all related to offences committed between 2013 and early-2017.

Defence barrister Nadeem Holland told the court that the fraud was motivated, in part, by Matharu's personal financial woes.

He noted that the defendant had invested at least some of the stolen funds in her own charitable projects.

Mr Holland said: "On a personal level, there were real financial difficulties. She also faced an uncertain employment situation."

However, Judge Norton remarked that, around the time of the offending, Matharu was taking regular trips to Switzerland.

The defendant was due to stand trial for the offences. However, weeks prior to this, she pleaded guilty to all charges against her.

Judge Norton said that this admission was "late coming" - and that the fraud was so serious and sophisticated that only a prison sentence could be justified.

She jailed Matharu for two years and two months.

In a bid to pay back the stolen funds, the defendant has taken out substantial loans.

Rounding off proceedings in court, the judge stressed that Matharu was only able to embezzle the grants due to her respected position in the Slough charity sector.

She told Matharu: "You exploited those views of your honesty, your integrity and your expertise in order to make applications fraudulently on behalf of non-existent applicants, over a period of four years, to obtain total grants in excess of £50,000."