Middletons' local shopkeeper is spared jail

Bucklebury sub postmaster is sentenced after admitting committing fraud

A BUCKLEBURY shopkeeper who was a guest of the Middleton family at the royal wedding has been spared jail after committing fraud.

The judge in the case suspended the jail term he handed Mr Shingadia and said: “I've never before received so many tributes to the character of a defendant and I'm deeply impressed.

“You're clearly valued in the local area.”

Hasmukh Shingadia, aged 51, who runs Peach's convenience store in Upper Bucklebury, claimed that the amount of cash-in-hand money held at a Post Office branch inside his shop was greater than the true figure.

Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday (Thursday) how the Post Office realised the £16,180.60 was missing when an audit was carried on March 25 last year.

Adrian Chaplin, prosecuting, said: “Mr Shingadia had been the sub postmaster at Upper Bucklebury for some twenty years.

“In an interview on July 1, 2010, he was frank about the finances. He was encountering difficulties from the Spar shop at the same address.

“He said he was taking out amounts of £500 to £1,000. He was confident, because he had assets such as property, that in due course he could repay the money.

“He stated in his interview that nobody else was aware of what he was doing.”

Mr Shingadia, who has since repaid the money owed to the Post Office, had pleaded guilty to one charge of false accounting between December 2008 and March 2010 at a previous hearing on June 24 at the same court.

Nikki Duncan, defending, said her client was having personal problems at the time, including battling cancer.

Mrs Duncan said: “His own mother was ill and later died. His wife was also ill and Mr Shingadia himself had cancer. Members of the community drove him to hospital for the treatment he needed.

“He was also worried about his daughter. In these difficult circumstance he took money but always intended to pay it back.

“He was suffering financially because of the sudden closure of the garage next door. He also had loans out for refurbishment of the post office and a further loan on a commercial property.

“He said he was truly regretful and very sorry for what had taken place. He knows he has let down the whole community and the Post Office who provided him with a living.”

The judge, Recorder Peter Wallis issued Mr Shingadia with a eight month jail sentence suspended for a year.

Recorder Wallis, who also ordered Mr Shingadia to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £2,269.69.

In the run-up to the royal wedding on April 29, Mr Shingadia, known as “Hash” said that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and her family were regular visitors to his store and had become friends of his family, and that he and his wife Chan Shingadia were overwhelmed to be invited.