Leader denies theft from Brownie fund

A Brownie leader fleeced her group out of nearly £5,000 to help pay off her "terrible" debts, Southwark crown court heard.

Kate Homewood, 35, is accused of diverting funds from the Second West Wickham Brownies in Kent to her personal account.

The group, of which her daughter was a member, raised money for good causes with a Christmas show and a supermarket bag-packing event, the court heard. Homewood was a Crown Prosecution Service case support officer in London and in her spare time troop treasurer. She paid back the money only when its disappearance was discovered, it was alleged.

Homewood, of Bromley, claimed she had not been taught how to use the pack's account correctly. She denies two charges of fraud and three of theft. The trial continues.