The director of a horse therapy company who falsely held it out to be a not-for-profit charity has been convicted of fraud.

Wendy Elizabeth Megson, also known as Wendy Elizabeth, ‘stole’ the registration numbers of genuine charities to give Manx Equitherapy Limited (MEL) an ‘air of authenticity’. In fact it was not – nor had it ever been – a charity.

The seven-strong jury at the Court of General Gaol Delivery took an hour and a half to deliver its unanimous guilty verdicts to the 13 charges she faced including two of charity fraud and nine specimen counts of benefit fraud.

Megson was convicted in her absence, having been remanded in jail by Deemster Graham Cook on the second day of her trial for her disruptive behaviour. She had been representing herself in court but chose not to take the stand to give evidence in her defence.

The trial had been due to last nine days but in the event ran for only four.

MEL was a ‘mask or front for her own greed’ to obtain as much financial benefit as possible, said prosecutor James Robinson. Analysis of its bank account showed payments for rent, meals out, flights, an electrical store and nights in hotels.

Megson, 61, of Ballaradcliffe, Andreas, had denied nine counts of benefit fraud, two charges of charity fraud, one count of fraud by false representation and one of obtaining remission of fees by deception.

She will remain in custody until her sentencing on September 20. Deemster Cook asked for social inquiry and psychiatric reports to be prepared.

He told the jury: ‘The evidence completely justified your verdicts. You have done the right thing.’

Manx Equitherapy Ltd was incorporated in 2012, with the defendant as a director, with the stated aim to use horses to provide therapy.

Mr Robinson said Megson was overpaid a total of £31,366 in benefits over a period of four years or so by claiming she was too ill to work and failing to declare she was earning an income from MEL.

MEL’s bank account had credits made to it totalling £114,000 and was used as the accused’s ‘personal piggy bank’, the jury was told.

Despite never having been registered as a charity it was repeatedly held out expressly or by implication to be one, the court heard. This enabled it to avoid financial oversight.

There were references on its website and Facebook page to it being a charity or charitable organisation seeking donations. There were similar claims on the JustGiving and easyfundraising platforms.

MEL used the charity number from a different charity, Abandoned Children of Romania, which was set up in 2006 and later changed its name to Acorn. The accused became its chairman and secretary in 2012.

Her company used the registered number of a second charity, IoM Sailing and Boating Trust, in its application to the Tesco Bags of Help scheme.

fees

MEL used its claimed charity status to obtain relief on fees totalling £2,660 which would otherwise have been due when it filed its accounts.

Following the verdicts, Deemster Cook explained why the defendant had been absent for most of her trial.

He said the Megson did not accept the jurisdiction of the court and her defence was based on claims of due process, equality of arms and it being unconstitutional.

The Deemster said such a defence had ‘no place in a court of law’.

He said: ‘She was previously told by me that if she wished to raise that type of defence I would stop her doing so.

‘You will have seen her behaviour during Monday and you will have witnessed her behaviour on Tuesday morning.

‘If anything it had deteriorated from the point of view of her being argumentative.’

The Deemster said he had remanded the defendant in custody for a ‘cooling-off period’ – the first time he had ever had to do this – but she had refused to apologise for her disruptive behaviour. ‘It simply wasn’t fair to you. She was questioning absolutely everything because she wanted to be difficult,’ he told the jurors.

The jury was told that Megson had previously received a custodial sentence for animal cruelty. She was jailed for 20 weeks in August 2022 after being found guilty in the summary court of neglecting 19 horses and ponies in her care. The animals had been left severely emaciated in what the MSPCA described as ‘shocking and appalling’ conditions.