Charity boss stalked £6k payout mum

9:32am Wednesday 9th July 2008

A charity boss has been warned by police to stop harassing a former employee who won a tribunal for unfair dismissal against the organisation.

Trevor Bernard, treasurer and trustee of the Croydon African Caribbean Family Organisation (Cafco) was accused of stalking Venita Wilson following the tribunal's ruling.

Mrs Wilson, 31, from Norwood, won £6,302 in back pay from the charity after a tribunal ruled she was unfairly sacked by the charity, which was previously investigated by Croydon Council.

Mr Bernard, son of former Croydon councillor Gee Bernard, was told by police to stop any harrassment of Mrs Wilson following a complaint.

Mrs Wilson said yesterday that following her tribunal win she spotted Mr Bernard parked outside her house. She said: "As I looked at him, he drew his finger across his neck.

The mum-of-one said: "I saw Trevor on two more occasions with another associate who was taking photographs of me.

"I was forced to dial 999 when the associate followed me into a friend's shop in Norbury on June 26. I asked Trevor's colleague why they were following me, why they were trying to frighten me. The colleague said: We will f******* get you'."

Mrs Wilson logged all the events in a diary and reported it to police who served Mr Barnard with a harrassment warning.

A police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that Trevor Bernard was served with a harrassment warning."

Mrs Wilson took Cafco to an employment tribunal last month after it dismissed her for falsely claiming she had stolen documents, money and a blank cheque from its offices.

Cafco was the subject of a council investigation last year after allegations that it was neglecting the children and elderly it was supposed to help and that large sums of taxpayers' money had not been properly accounted for.

The council said it found no evidence of misappropriation of funds, but stopped its funding and ordered the charity to follow a strict action plan to avoid complete closure.