Pub manager found guilty of stealing Dunblane fund

A pub manager has been convicted of stealing pounds 600 he raised in an appeal for victims and their families after the Dunblane massacre last March in which 16 children and their teacher were shot dead.

Patrick Southgate, 49, also took pounds 1,400 from the bar in Poplar, east London, when he ran away to Spain in April. But after 11 days on the run amid massive publicity, the divorced father of five returned to Britain and gave himself up.

Southgate was told yesterday by Judge Stephen Robbins at Southwark Crown Court that his crime "might be regarded as the most despicable and mean offence". Sentencing was adjourned until 1 November.