Nursery chief's Christmas in cells

Staffordshire financier Paul Cope will be spending Christmas in jail for breaching a restraining order on his cash and assets.

The father of six, who has admitted a £25 million leasing fraud, was locked up for 28 days by Judge Mark Eades yesterday.

Cope, owner of Kingdom Finance and a former sponsor of Stafford Rangers FC, had been on bail awaiting sentence, but the prosecution accused him of trying to dissipate his assets.

He was under a restraining order, issued in July last year, banning him from financial dealings, Stafford crown court was told.

Judge Eades was told that in January, Cope ordered the closing of his Kingdom Childcare nurseries in Blythe Bridge and Normacot, Stoke-on-Trent, and the removal of all equipment. Detective constable Mark Kelsall, of Staffordshire Police financial investigation unit, who has been supervising the restraining order, alleged Cope had also been involved in the purchase of a £20,000 Range Rover and attempts to buy a £750,000 house at Abbots Bromley.

In addition, Cope had operated a bank account and sought to transfer money to Spain.

Dc Kelsall said the closures of the nurseries happened on the day Allied Irish Bank sought possession of the businesses as going concerns in January this year.

"Both businesses were running, with a number of children attending. On the day AIB was taking matters in to their own hands, Cope instructed staff to close these premises immediately, to send children home, and inform their parents that the nurseries were closing."

The officer said two men working for Cope removed the nurseries' minibus, the computer systems and closed circuit television cameras.

"The businesses couldn't run without CCTV, the computers held all the records of the children. When the administrators came in, they were unable to contact parents."

As a result of these actions, the nurseries were worth only a fraction – just the value of the buildings.

Cope, aged 44, of Barn Bank Lane, Stafford, who has admitted conspiracy to defraud, was remanded in custody from last Friday until yesterday's hearing.

Peter Casson, defending, said that Cope accepted breaching the restraining order in respect of the bank account, but denies the other alleged breaches. He asked for a further adjournment of 28 days to prepare Cope's case fully and asked the judge to give him bail again.

"He's been in custody over the weekend, the first time he's been in prison, and he found it extremely difficult whilst there. He accepts he's been extremely foolish in breaching the restraining order, he's learned a salutory lesson."

Adjourning the hearing, Judge Eades remanded Cope in custody, saying: "The essence of the allegations was that the defendant disobeyed the restraining order in respect of his assets, by taking actions likely to lead to the dissipation of his assets in any future confiscation hearing."