A WOMAN locked up for her part in a massive charity swindle has had a plea for her jail term to be slashed ignored by Court of Appeal judges.

But one of her co-accused caught up in the CATCH (Care and Action Trust for Children with Handicaps) scandal was told the sentence would be cut.

In June this year, at Manchester Crown Court, Trevor England, of Ammanford in Wales, the senior administrator and founder of the charity, received a sentence of six years in prison, having pleaded guilty to cheating the revenue by claiming fraudulent gift aid repayments.

England, aged 61, also admitted one count of theft, having stolen substantial amounts of cash from the charity.

Mary Margaret Johnson, aged 60, of Manchester Road, Rixton was also charged with two counts of theft. She took advantage of the lack of records of donations coming into the charity's office to help herself to tens of thousands of pounds in cash.

She maintained a not guilty plea throughout the trial, alleging that the cash was generated from horse racing, but was convicted by a jury and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Office Manager, Andrea Glancy, 45, of Victory Road, Cadishead, was jailed for two years after also admitting one count of PAYE fraud.

Two other people were also jailed, but played no part in the appeal.

Lord Justice Hughes, sitting with Mr Justice Ousley and Mr Justice Wilkie on Wednesday, ruled that Glancy's jail term was too long, and cut it to just 12 months.

However the judges rejected arguments that Johnson and England had received too long behind bars.

The court heard that the taxman was swindled out of £250,000 by some of those working at the Catch, as staff were paid in cash and their pay cheques grossly underestimated.