A former manager with Bradford Racial Equality Council was jailed for 12 months for stealing more than £9,000.

Father-of-two Saleem Sharif, 37, admitted six counts of theft from the council, totalling £6,550, and one from photocopying company Copyform of £2,800.

He had been a project manager for Bradford Alliance Against Racial Harassment, a council subsidiary before they folded in 1999.

Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday that his actions contributed to the collapse of the organisation which was set up to help people suffering racial harassment.

Sharif, of Rotherham, had set up a bogus company and used the name of his mother-in-law, an innocent party, to embezzle more than £6,500 from the organisation, which relied on grants and funding from public bodies.

Sharif insisted he had only received a third of the stolen money - the rest, he said, went to two partners who helped set up the bogus firm.

The organisation later folded after funding from the National Lottery, Bradford Council and the national Commission for Racial Equality was withdrawn due to lack of confidence.

Prosecution counsel Andrew Hatton said: "Both the Council and Alliance had to be closed down due to the withdrawal of funds as a result of these activities. That was a sad event of considerable loss to the community."

In mitigation, barrister Andrew Nuttall said Sharif accepted the seriousness of his crime and felt shame for what he had done.

"My client has been suffering from depression since 1996 and was suffering from health problems which increased his frustration.

"He regrets his actions and feels genuine shame for what he did."

But the court also heard how he had been convicted in October 1993 of stealing about £700 from his previous employer, Tandy, when he worked in Ipswich.

His Honour Judge Gillick said that while he accepted Sharif's guilty pleas and his desire to pay back the money, he could not escape a custodial sentence.

He said: "You abused a position of trust at a company which was reliant upon honesty."

Sharif, who is unemployed, was given a six month sentence for the six counts of theft against the Bradford REC and a further six months for the theft from Copyform.

e-mail: anila.baig

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk