A HEADTEACHER who dishonestly claimed £50,000 for "phantom" pupils who no longer went to his school has resigned from his post following a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Ernie Pickup, 60, of Brierfield's Mansfield High misled education bosses over the number of students he had at the school to get extra cash to spend on equipment, buildings and teachers.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Lancashire Education Authority in July, but a court order banned publicity of the case until today.

Pickup has resigned from the post following his conviction. A spokesman for the National Union of Head Teachers today said she believed it was the first case of its kind in the country.

The court heard how Pickup, of Whalley Road, Wilpshire, near Blackburn, claimed funding for students who had left the school and for Asian pupils on extended leave to visit relatives in Pakistan and India.

But Pickup did not benefit personally and the extra funding has been paid back to Lancashire Education Authority by subsequent cuts in Mansfield's budget.

The shortfall in funding caused by Pickup's dishonest claims was met from the school's six-figure cash surplus, the court heard. Judge Simon Fawcus sentenced Pickup to a two-year conditional discharge and said: "I have come to the conclusion you have been punished enough."

Pickup, who wiped tears from his eyes as the judge passed sentence, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the education authority between May 1994 and November 1997 by falsely representing pupil numbers. Mansfield is one of the largest secondary schools in the county.

Former deputy head Alan Duckworth, 48, of Patterdale Close, Reedley, pleaded not guilty to the same charge when he appeared before the court yesterday. The prosecution accepted his plea and decided not to pursue the matter. Duckworth admitted a charge of false accounting, namely that he used liquid paper on one occasion to deface or falsify a leaver's form. The form is used to work out how many pupils are on the school's roll. He was given an absolute discharge.

Aftab Khawar, defending, said Duckworth had nothing to do with the preparation of roll numbers at the school which were used by the local education authority to work out the funding.

He said his client had a "very, very limited role" in the matter.

Full story in today's Lancashire Evening Telegraph

Picture: Former deputy head Alan Duckworth (left) and Ernie Pickup (right) pictured putting on a brave face after the trial.