At that time, I was serving as Chair of the Welney Parish Council as well as the Overseer. This meant I liaised closely with Mr. Cox and Mr. Gardener, both of whom devoted a great deal of their own time voluntarily.
Over the years, I came to greatly appreciate Peter Cox’s diligence and competence in his role as RFO, as well as Peter Gardener’s tenacity in retrieving copy cheques and related documents — both were invaluable members of the team. This period was a positive one, and D/C Forman, the officer in charge, was very complimentary of their abilities. Their combined efforts ultimately brought the perpetrator to the table, resulting in a plea bargain requiring repayment of all stolen funds in exchange for a formal caution.
This agreement was fully ratified and approved by the full Welney Parish Council on 15 March 2021.
As I was unfortunately bedbound in hospital at that time and expected to remain so for the foreseeable future, I resigned from my position as Chair on 4 May 2021. Dorothy Harvey was subsequently elected as Chair.
In August 2021, I experienced a very challenging period in my life when I was admitted to hospital several times due to serious health complications. During that time, I was diagnosed with four life-threatening illnesses, underwent two major heart operations, and suffered a near-sepsis episode that caused my haemoglobin levels to fall to a critically low level of 65. The situation was extremely difficult both physically and mentally, as I was also prescribed four different opiate medications to manage the pain and aid my recovery.
Given the severity of my health condition and the ongoing treatment I required, it became clear that I would be unable to continue fulfilling my responsibilities to the Welney Parish Council to the standard that both the community and I would expect. Despite my strong commitment to serving the parish, I felt it was only right and responsible to step down from my role to focus on my recovery and allow someone else the opportunity to take on the position without disruption. Therefore, in September 2021, I made the difficult but necessary decision to formally resign from the Welney Parish Council.
This decision was not made lightly, as I had valued my time and contributions to the council deeply. However, prioritising my health was essential in order to make a full recovery and regain stability after such a serious and life-threatening period.
Although the current Welney Parish Council has categorised and issued me with two alleged “freedom of speech” violations in connection with my ongoing efforts to recover funds that were stolen from the Council, I remain committed to pursuing this matter. These funds were once formally acknowledged and agreed upon during the Welney Parish Council Extraordinary Meeting held on 15th March 2021.
Following a long and difficult period of ill health, during which I was treated at both the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Papworth Hospital, I am now fortunate to enjoy a reasonable level of health and quality of life once again. With this renewed strength, I feel it is my duty to ensure that our village is not financially undermined or, as some might say, “sold down the road.”
In recent months, many residents have spoken to me and my colleagues about the possibility of reviving community sports such as football and cricket on the village field, along with other recreational activities. If the missing funds were to be returned to the Parish Council or its associated charity, this would provide a valuable foundation for restoring and supporting grassroots sports in Welney — something our village has a proud history of. In the past, Welney was widely regarded as one of the leading Fenland villages for promoting sport at all levels.
Now that my health has improved, I am in a stronger position to continue investigating this issue — an issue I was forced to set aside earlier due to my serious medical conditions. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to see this matter through, not only for the sake of transparency and accountability but also for the long-term benefit of our community.
I want to make it absolutely clear that this agreement was initially presented to me as Chair and was brokered through the determination and persistence of Cox and Gardener, working in conjunction with D/C Forman.
I believe the recent actions and apparent reversal of this agreement have completely undermined trust and done a great disservice to the people of Fenland Parish. Speaking for myself and my colleagues, we will not rest until we have uncovered the cause of this travesty of justice and taken steps to correct it.
To view more information please view the above timeline which shows circa £22K was about to be handed back to the community.
Welney Parishioners, please see below continuation, you must decide Ken Goodger’s statement saying, the problem with the Clerk should have been dealt with myself when i was a councillor.
To listen to the conversation between me and Ken Goodger please listen below.
Please note at the end the ex Chairman who was chairman for the complete period of the Fraudulent activities of the former Parish Clerk, says at the end of the conversation “You were a Councillor, you had a chance to sort it, you didn’t and we’re here now and we’re quite happy with it…” Then Mr Goodger cut me off in the public participation meeting stating you should have done it in office anybody else and BCllr Rose put a question to Mr Goodger stopping me in my tracks, so i could not put it to the meeting that myself as Chair and Police Liaison officer in March 2021 put the deal that Cox and Gardner had brokered with the DC in charge to the full WPC agreed to allow a caution and collect the money. I feel it rather extraordinary that several councillors/Borough Councillors were at that meeting were the agreement was made were also at the meeting of 7th December 2021 were it was decided to drop the case not collect the money and just serve a caution. (see images below)
What i am saying loud and clear is that Mr Goodger re-joined the Welney Parish Council just prior to the meeting of 7th December 2021 where it was agreed to terminate the case he badly broke the rules by not declaring an interest in the matter. I am saying as he was the boss of the former clerk when she perpetrated the theft no way should he of been involved in any discussions on the way forward in connection with the theft.
Cox and Gardener situation theses 2 people were methodical and produced very sound thefts figures i personally had worked with on projects over many years were Cox was a spot on financial controller to me it was a big feather in there capes for them to brocker a deal with D/I Forman that bought the perpetrator to the table with voluntary offered to pay the balance of stolen monies back circa just south of 22k as 8 k of the totals 30k was paid back to cover former clerks track in 2017
When the D/C put this plea bargain to me as WPC chair i was very pleased and once the the D/C superior’s had given approval from my hospital bed i gave Millard the current WPC Clerk The D/C ,contacts who put it before extra the extraordinary WPC meeting 15th March 2021 to get unanimous approval it was becoming obvious to me i was in no fit state to continue as chair see my closing report 4 may 2021 which i am sure will portray i was expecting the clerks theft monies to soon be in WPC Bank for the rest of 2021 i was mainly hospitalised by September 2021 it was very obvious due to my personal health i must resign it was sod’s law that my colleagues Dr Pratley and John Loveday had life changing events hit them Plus Cox became a full time carer also our An ex chair Tim Bennett died this situation diluted the fight for justice it appears the D/C broke her leg and her final visit to interview allotments hold to very some £600 cash never happen apparently staling the repayment cox figures we perfect but it seems police ran into a difficult illness. overworked plus no training in fraud the case starts to fall apart computer evidences not up-to date with figures chaotic plus the situation further complicated a fraction of WPC as fraud happened under there nose’s they just want it to go away so there are 2 parties caught with there trousers down. So to speak whistle blowers start asking questions police and WPC someone in Hierarchy of police and WPC only card is the DARVO technique in this instance Giles ex chair/ stroke WPC council fraud liaison officer he asked questions of DC who was in charge of clerks theft plus he asked questions of original chair during the period clerk stole money.
More detailed information can be found on Peter Cox’s Website
https://www.welney.org.uk/parish-council/parish-clerk’s-fraud.htm