A DISHONEST undertaker who stole from families and kept funeral donations to charity for himself has escaped jail.

Recorder Graeme Cliff commented "you are a lucky man" as 51-year-old Andrew Baker was given a suspended sentence and left the dock at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to 10 out of 11 counts of fraud and theft.

Baker, of Elm Close, Pebworth, near Honeybourne, Evesham, had fleeced eight families and charities out of £15,373 over two years. The court was told he had offered to repay the cash with a loan from a friend.

Prosecutor Michael Conry said Baker originally worked with his father as a funeral director in the family name and later traded as Cotswold Funeral Services and Honeybourne Funeral Services.

Although he was not authorised to sell funeral plans, he started doing this in 2012 and this led to dishonesty in the following years. Families took out plans totalling several thousand pounds over the years but the money was not always available when it was needed for a funeral.

One woman who had lived in the village for 40 years had worked hard to build up her funeral plan and this was a large part of her life savings. Another woman, who invested £3,000 in a plan, described Baker as a "lovely man with excellent personal service" but he had paid the money into his own business.

After another funeral, he left the husband's ashes on the doorstep of the widow's porch when he could not get a reply after repeated knocking at the front door.

Mr Conry said Baker also pocketed donations left at funerals for the Air Ambulance and the Police Benevolent Fund. Baker's actions were a breach of trust in a course of dishonesty.

Belinda Ariss, for Baker, said he had not set out to target vulnerable people with funeral plans. He had no record of dishonesty and had always intended to repay the charity donations. But he had gone personally bankrupt and his business had followed suit.

Baker was now working as a £350-a-week lorry driver on a zero-hours contract and a friend had offered to lend him money. He was sharing a house with his former partner and her two sons.

Sentencing Baker, Mr Cliff said that although he was a man of good character, it had been a mean offence. Although it passed the custody limit, he was suspending the 21-month jail sentence for two years. He ordered Baker to do 250 hours unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge of £80. He must also take part in a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation.