Christopher Copeland, 52, recruited workers to set up donation stations at supermarkets around the country . A conman who used teams of 'charity collectors' to pocket £300,000 of donations meant for the Help for Heroes charity, has been jailed today. Over an 18-month period, Christopher Copeland, 52, recruited workers to set up donation stations at supermarkets around the country. Unaware they were being used in the elaborate scam, the teams, clad in uniforms with Help for Heroes branding, encouraged shoppers to put money into charity buckets. He even decorated his fleet of ex-military vehicles in the charity's livery. The workers then paid the donations into bank accounts held by Copeland, who used the money as an 'income stream' to support his ailing garage business. Father-of-one Copeland, of mid Devon, was only arrested when a worker reported his suspicions about the donations to police and an investigation was launched. It later transpired Help for Heroes had not known about and did not authorise Copeland’s collections and the money had never reached the charity. The fundraising buckets used had belonged to a separate charity and Copeland had used Help for Heroes branding to illustrate his equipment without permission. Copeland later admitted a charge of fraud and one of money laundering between February 1 2010 and September 17 2011. Judge Philip Wassall, during a two-hour hearing at Exeter Crown Court, sentenced Copeland to a total of four years and six months in prison for his offending. 'When the cause behind the charity is so worthy the potential for huge losses is so large and the difficulty in detecting and quantifying fraud is so profound,' the judge said. 'I also take into account that offences such as this dent public confidence in the charity affected. 'The point has been made that this likely effect has been very damaging for Help for Heroes and the public are likely to question how safe their donation are and whether they should be made at all.' The judge ordered a charge of fraud relating to the sales of Land Rovers through auction website eBay to lie on file. Copeland was made subject of a Serious Crime Prevention Order, banning him from registering as a charity collector and collecting donations for five years. Judge Philip Wassall, during a two-hour hearing at Exeter Crown Court, sentenced Copeland to a total of four years and six months in prison for his offending . Prosecuting, David Sapiecha said Copeland began to raise money for Help for Heroes in October 2009 and initially did so legitimately. Copeland raised £20,000 for the charity through selling merchandise and a further £3,000 in donations before he arranged the professional collections. Mr Sapiecha said Copeland, who has no previous convictions, owned a military Bedford truck and a Land Rover, which were decked out in Help for Heroes livery. 'He employed people who he sent to various sites around the country along with these vehicles to collect money for the public,' the prosecutor said. 'The public believed they were paying money to the charity. It was emblazoned on all the equipment. 'It was a weekly event that these vehicles would be sent out to mostly supermarket car parks. They would stay there for three or four days. 'The employees either stayed in the vehicle overnight or stayed fairly cheaply in a hotel. They were given money for food. 'They would then bank the money on the direction of the defendant, either daily at the beginning or hourly at the end as things became more desperate.' Expenses for the trip were taken from donations on the final day of collecting, Mr Sapiecha added. The donations were paid into Copeland’s personal accounts and then used to prop up his ailing businesses. 'The defendant was using the donations as an income stream,' Mr Sapiecha said. 'The businesses were having funds injected into them and they were being improved.' Father-of-one Copeland, of mid Devon, was arrested when a worker reported his suspicions about the donations to police and an investigation was launched. It later transpired Help for Heroes had not known about and did not authorise Copeland's collections and the money had never reached the charity . Police who raided Copeland’s premises in September 2011 discovered Apple products including iMac computers, he added. They also found paperwork to show Copeland had registered as a collector for another charity, Afghan Heroes. In a victim impact statement read to the court, Jo Brookes, income protection officer for Help for Heroes, said Copeland’s acts could have caused public trust in the charity to be 'eroded'. 'To have that trust betrayed means that our legitimate fundraisers have to work even harder to keep the public’s trust,' she said. '£300,000 is a very significant amount of money for the public to have donated and the charity to not receive.' She said the money could have funded the running costs of Plymouth Recovery Centre for a year, or the entire Band of Brothers programme for 14 months. Representing Copeland, Roseleen Collins said his business had gone into liquidation in 2011, at the same time as the fraud was investigated. Miss Collins said Copeland set up the collections after deciding it was a “brilliant idea” to combine his interest in ex-military vehicles with Help for Heroes. However, the vehicles were difficult to maintain and required expensive maintenance, which Copeland had to do himself, she said. Miss Collins added: 'It has been very hard for him to come to terms with that for which he has been accused. 'He knows he is demonised in the eyes of the public and that will continue for some time. All he can do is express extreme regret at the whole enterprise.' Miss Collins said Copeland and his family had not enjoyed an “extravagant lifestyle” from the donations, as the money went into the failing businesses. Copeland will be subject to Proceeds of Crime proceedings to recover money taken during the fraud. Speaking outside court, Jo Brookes added: 'Copeland deceived the public into thinking they were making donations which would help our wounded. 'Instead he was stealing from them and using the money for his own personal gain through a deceptive web of fraud which took detectives three years to untangle. 'We have been astonished by the response of the public. Many of those defrauded by him have contacted us to express shock that someone would use organised and criminal tactics to prevent money supporting the wounded.'
Christopher Copeland, 52, recruited workers to collect at supermarkets .
He even decorated his fleet of ex-military vehicles in the charity's livery .
Unaware, the workers then paid the donations into bank accounts .
Copeland arrested when worker reported his suspicions to police .
Judge admitted Copeland's offence would 'dent public confidence' in the charity for injured servicemen .
Christopher Copeland, 52, recruited workers to set up donation stations at supermarkets around the country . A conman who used teams of 'charity collectors' to pocket £300,000 of donations meant for the Help for Heroes charity, has been jailed today. Over an 18-month period, Christopher Copeland, 52, recruited workers to set up donation stations at supermarkets around the country. Unaware they were being used in the elaborate scam, the teams, clad in uniforms with Help for Heroes branding, encouraged shoppers to put money into charity buckets. He even decorated his fleet of ex-military vehicles in the charity's livery. The workers then paid the donations into bank accounts held by Copeland, who used the money as an 'income stream' to support his ailing garage business. Father-of-one Copeland, of mid Devon, was only arrested when a worker reported his suspicions about the donations to police and an investigation was launched. It later transpired Help for Heroes had not known about and did not authorise Copeland’s collections and the money had never reached the charity. The fundraising buckets used had belonged to a separate charity and Copeland had used Help for Heroes branding to illustrate his equipment without permission. Copeland later admitted a charge of fraud and one of money laundering between February 1 2010 and September 17 2011. Judge Philip Wassall, during a two-hour hearing at Exeter Crown Court, sentenced Copeland to a total of four years and six months in prison for his offending. 'When the cause behind the charity is so worthy the potential for huge losses is so large and the difficulty in detecting and quantifying fraud is so profound,' the judge said. 'I also take into account that offences such as this dent public confidence in the charity affected. 'The point has been made that this likely effect has been very damaging for Help for Heroes and the public are likely to question how safe their donation are and whether they should be made at all.' The judge ordered a charge of fraud relating to the sales of Land Rovers through auction website eBay to lie on file. Copeland was made subject of a Serious Crime Prevention Order, banning him from registering as a charity collector and collecting donations for five years. Judge Philip Wassall, during a two-hour hearing at Exeter Crown Court, sentenced Copeland to a total of four years and six months in prison for his offending . Prosecuting, David Sapiecha said Copeland began to raise money for Help for Heroes in October 2009 and initially did so legitimately. Copeland raised £20,000 for the charity through selling merchandise and a further £3,000 in donations before he arranged the professional collections. Mr Sapiecha said Copeland, who has no previous convictions, owned a military Bedford truck and a Land Rover, which were decked out in Help for Heroes livery. 'He employed people who he sent to various sites around the country along with these vehicles to collect money for the public,' the prosecutor said. 'The public believed they were paying money to the charity. It was emblazoned on all the equipment. 'It was a weekly event that these vehicles would be sent out to mostly supermarket car parks. They would stay there for three or four days. 'The employees either stayed in the vehicle overnight or stayed fairly cheaply in a hotel. They were given money for food. 'They would then bank the money on the direction of the defendant, either daily at the beginning or hourly at the end as things became more desperate.' Expenses for the trip were taken from donations on the final day of collecting, Mr Sapiecha added. The donations were paid into Copeland’s personal accounts and then used to prop up his ailing businesses. 'The defendant was using the donations as an income stream,' Mr Sapiecha said. 'The businesses were having funds injected into them and they were being improved.' Father-of-one Copeland, of mid Devon, was arrested when a worker reported his suspicions about the donations to police and an investigation was launched. It later transpired Help for Heroes had not known about and did not authorise Copeland's collections and the money had never reached the charity . Police who raided Copeland’s premises in September 2011 discovered Apple products including iMac computers, he added. They also found paperwork to show Copeland had registered as a collector for another charity, Afghan Heroes. In a victim impact statement read to the court, Jo Brookes, income protection officer for Help for Heroes, said Copeland’s acts could have caused public trust in the charity to be 'eroded'. 'To have that trust betrayed means that our legitimate fundraisers have to work even harder to keep the public’s trust,' she said. '£300,000 is a very significant amount of money for the public to have donated and the charity to not receive.' She said the money could have funded the running costs of Plymouth Recovery Centre for a year, or the entire Band of Brothers programme for 14 months. Representing Copeland, Roseleen Collins said his business had gone into liquidation in 2011, at the same time as the fraud was investigated. Miss Collins said Copeland set up the collections after deciding it was a “brilliant idea” to combine his interest in ex-military vehicles with Help for Heroes. However, the vehicles were difficult to maintain and required expensive maintenance, which Copeland had to do himself, she said. Miss Collins added: 'It has been very hard for him to come to terms with that for which he has been accused. 'He knows he is demonised in the eyes of the public and that will continue for some time. All he can do is express extreme regret at the whole enterprise.' Miss Collins said Copeland and his family had not enjoyed an “extravagant lifestyle” from the donations, as the money went into the failing businesses. Copeland will be subject to Proceeds of Crime proceedings to recover money taken during the fraud. Speaking outside court, Jo Brookes added: 'Copeland deceived the public into thinking they were making donations which would help our wounded. 'Instead he was stealing from them and using the money for his own personal gain through a deceptive web of fraud which took detectives three years to untangle. 'We have been astonished by the response of the public. Many of those defrauded by him have contacted us to express shock that someone would use organised and criminal tactics to prevent money supporting the wounded.'
Christopher Copeland, 52, recruited workers to set put money into charity buckets. He even decorated his fleet of ex-military vehicles in the charity's livery. The workers then paid the donations into bank accounts held by Copeland, offences such as this dent public confidence in vehicles to collect money for the public,' the arrested when a worker reported his suspicions