Lorry driver raised more than £24,000 for Lee Rigby’s son but is yet to hand over a single penny, a court heard
A lorry driver raised more than £24,000 for Fusilier Lee Rigby's son but blew the cash and never handed over a penny, a court heard yesterday.
Gary Gardner, 56, organised charity truck-pull events and invited Lee's devastated family as guests of honour to the first one.
But the wannabe music producer is accused of wasting thousands on a charity single that flopped and on trips to London to promote bands he managed.
Lee's widow Rebecca, 34, said Gardner promised cash for her son Jack, who was only two when his dad was butchered outside Woolwich Barracks in May 2013. She attended the first event in his home village of Medbourne, near Market Harborough, Leics, three months after Lee's murder but he later stopped returning her calls.
Rebecca told Leicester crown court: "He said he wanted to raise thousands and thousands. He spoke about large money and it was as if he was going to set Jack up for life."
But she added: "Jack or myself never received a penny. I tried to contact him and it got to the stage where there were no returned calls, no answers, no emails. I couldn't say how many times I tried. It was a fair few."
“Gary invited us to Medbourne to the truck-pull event. I paid for my expenses - hotels and meals. It was so busy - there must have been hundreds maybe thousands of people. I thought the money was for Jack and a portion was for local charities. I have not received any money from the truck-pull event.
“He told me he wanted to dedicate a song to Lee to raise more funds for Jack. He never told me how he would get the money to produce the single. I wouldn’t have allowed it if I knew the money was coming from the truck-pull event. I have not received any money from the charity single.
“I contacted him about the money not long after the single was launched. I contacted him by phone, message and email. I tried a fair few times to contact him. We had conversations about the money in the past and he just said it would be as much as thousands - as if it was going to set Jack up for life.”
Rebecca also said that if she'd known Gardner was spending the cash on producing a charity single she "wouldn't have allowed it."
Prosecutor Samuel Skinner said it was not known exactly how much Gardner raised from the 2013 truck-pull and two similar events in 2015 because he kept no records. But "analysis of bank statements" suggests it was at least £24,000.
Mr Skinner said: "He used donors money to finance a charity music single without the permission of the donors because he wanted to become a music promoter. In any event, the defendant used some of the money for a purpose that the original donors never intended and would not have approved if they had known.
"It appears that the defendant has spent all the money he received. He has not given Jack Rigby, or his trust fund, any money. The defendant has said the cost of running the charity events limited the amount available for donation.
"However, the defendant appears to have an enthusiasm for promoting ‘emerging music artists’, and it is the showcasing of these artists to the public with himself as the manager or producer that has swallowed up most of the verifiable donations.”
In February 2014, Gardner launched the charity single "Miss You Machine" in Trafalgar Square and enlisted retired soldiers from Lee's Royal Fusiliers regiment to collect donations.
Mr Skinner said: "They wore their beret and hackle and thought they were representing their old regiment. We have no idea what he did with this money, or how much it came to. Jack Rigby has not seen any of it.”
The jury heard that Gardner, who denies three counts of fraud, became "very aggressive" when he was quizzed about the cash by fellow organisers of the truck-pull event. Karl Jenkins, a member of the Medbourne Village Hall Committee, said: "The whole process of asking questions and trying to get answers out of him was just impossible.
"Everywhere you drove in the area there was a poster for this truck-pull. We could not do anything but let it go ahead. I wasn't satisfied at all. In fact I was very uncomfortable about the whole situation. I was sickened to the stomach because I had no idea how much had been raised or where it had gone."
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After the first event Gardner publicly showed a giant charity cheque made out to the Jack Rigby trust for £3,000 but no cash was handed over, the court heard. It was claimed that villagers offered to help count the cash but he refused.
Lee was killed by Islamic extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. Adebolajo was given a whole-life term and Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years.
The trial continues.
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