A 50-YEAR-OLD accountant swindled a Stroud-based national charity out of more than £100,000, a court heard.

Dominic Fox admitted defrauding Citizens Online by abusing his position as financial director between June 1 and November 30, 2013.

Janine Wood, prosecuting, told Gloucester Crown Court on Thursday that he had dishonestly obtained £100,800 from the charity, which assists disadvantaged people with internet access.

Fox, of Sidmouth Street, Reading, had put forward a basis of plea suggesting he had offered to repay the money, she said.

But he would have been unable to do so as he was made bankrupt following discovery of the offences, she said.

Fox was of previous good character, she added.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC granted a defence request for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and bailed Fox until Monday, September 8.

But he warned him: “Just because I am ordering a pre-sentence report doesn’t mean anything as far as sentence. I can make no promises of any sort. It is an awful lot of money.”

But he told Fox he would get maximum credit of one-third off his sentence for pleading guilty at an early stage.

Stroud Citizens Online in Stratford Road was set up to tackle the issues of digital inclusion, to make sure that the internet is available to everyone.

Its aim is also to help individuals and communities understand and gain the benefits of being online.