Ex-school board manager convicted of fraud, breach of trust gets suspended sentence

Aformer school board manager, who was found guilty of fraud and breach of trust last month, has received a suspended sentence, and must pay close to $4,000 to the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District.

Derek Newhook, 54, received his sentence in a Grand Bank courtroom on Wednesday.

In addition to his suspended sentence, Newhook will be on probation for a year, and must pay $3,839 to the school districtand $400 in victim surcharges.

In July, Newhook was found guilty of two counts of fraud and one count of breach of trust by a public officer. The other 15 fraud charges were dropped.

• Former school board manager found guilty of fraud, breach of trust
• School board manager accused of using employees to do jobs for his personal benefit

According to Judge Harold Porter's written decision, when Newhook was employed as the regional operations manager for the local school board, he had employees of the school bus depot build a shed and a trailer.

"The shed, which was surplus to the requirements of the school board, was put on a trailer and moved offsite on the eve of a visit to the depot from the school board management," the judge wrote, noting that the trailer's licence plate was in Newhook's name.

Judge Porter wrote that the trailer and shed were moved to Newhook's friend's equipment yard, where it remained for two years out of the school district's reach.

"This was dishonest deprivation, which in law is fraud," the judge wrote.

Judge Porter also said Newhook had the employees install a lift kit and "moose lights" on thatsame friend's pickup truck, which was rented to the school board.

Agreement on compensation

The judge noted that Newhook is not a first offender, but "it has been a long time since the accused had any trouble with the law" referencing two convictions of possession of stolen property, and one count of false pretense, that occurred between 1985 and 1993.

Newhook's lawyer, Randy Piercey, said it had been a "lenghty and expensive trial" for his client, and that it has "ruined his reputation."

Newhook had worked for the school board for 17 years, before he was fired in 2016, and only recently secured a job with a landscaping company.

• N.L. English School District manager charged with fraud

In terms of sentencing, the Crown was seeking incarceration, while the defence wanted a suspended sentence.

Both sides agreed on restitution for the school board for its assets:the shed and trailer.

No 'hard and fast rules'

The other allegations, which were dismissed, spanned a 12-year time frame, from 2003 through the end of 2015.

Some of those charges included employees salvaging building materials from an old building in Garnish, building a baby barn, waxing Newhook's all-terrain vehicle and cleaning his personal truck, and servicing Newhook's daughter's car.

"It was clear that the depot did not exercise hard and fast rules about having employees do work on their private vehicles in the depot garage," the judge wrote.

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