Leila Roy and her son Anton

A FORMER Tory election agent has been handed a suspended sentence after defrauding a teenage boy of the money raised to support him following the sudden death of his mother.

Alexander Shayler, 33, appeared in Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday where he was handed a 10-month suspended prison sentence for fraud by abuse of position of trust. Mr Shayler, from Kent, spoke only to confirm his name. The court heard that

Mr Shayler had set up an online GoFundMe campaign to support Anton Roche, now 18, following the sudden death of his mother Leila Roy, the popular former Conservative councillor for Belsize ward, in 2021. The fund aimed to “cover the immediate costs of Leila’s sudden and tragic passing and to create a trust fund for her son to ensure that her dreams and hopes for him can continue.”

The campaign raised £17,000. After Ms Roy’s funeral had been paid for and other outstanding costs cleared, the remaining balance of £9,252 was due to be paid to Anton on his 18th birthday.

The court heard Mr Shayler offered to hold the funds in his personal bank account until Anton came of age.

During this time, Mr Shayler spent the remaining balance on himself. Elega Simpson, prosecuting, said his actions were “plainly an abuse of trust and responsibility.”

Mr Shayler was suffering with an alcohol dependency and mental illness at the time, the court heard. “More and more of his normal expenses were eating into these funds, and princi­pally that was alcohol,” defence barrister Alex Jamieson said.

“Underlying events in his childhood and recent years” had caused Mr Shayler’s alcohol dependency, including a bereavement, the court was told.

Mr Jamieson said Mr Shayler had reached a crisis point in February. “He was extremely drunk and put a knife to his throat” leaving a “superficial cut,” the barrister said, clarifying this was not an attempt at suicide.

The following day, Mr Shayler contacted his employer and asked for his help, the court was told. Shortly after, the other trustees of the GoFundMe campaign were informed the money had gone missing.

Mr Shayler agreed a repayment plan with his boss that saw a “substantial amount of his wages” put aside to pay back the money.

Mr Jamieson said: “The fact that those people were willing to assist him in that way, knowing everything that had happened, speaks… to his general character.”

Since appearing in Highbury Magistrates Court in August, Mr Shayler has “lost a career which was of real importance to him”, Mr Jamieson noted, adding he now has “employment with a supermarket… he regards today as an important day, it is a refresh, it is a step forward.”

Mr Jamieson said Mr Shayler “has repaid the money and he has undertaken treatment” for his mental health problems.

He has also written a letter of apology to Anton, the court heard. Judge Alexander praised Mr Shayler for repaying the money in full, and for making “full admissions” to his guilt when interviewed by police in summer.

“The important point to note for me is that the work you’ve done… all took place before the involvement of the authorities,” Mr Jacobson said, adding he appreciated Mr Shayler had not tried to “wriggle out” of the consequences of his crimes.

But he noted Anton was “particularly vulnerable” as a bereaved child. Mr Jacobson said Mr Shayler’s actions amounted to a “gross betrayal” of trust and noted that “Anton feels overwhelmed, scared and betrayed”.

Quoting from Anton’s victim impact statement, Mr Jacobson said: “This has significantly affected my trust.”

The offence has “massively deteriorated” Anton’s relationships with his peers and other adults, Mr Jacobson noted.

As well as the suspended sentence, Mr Shayler was ordered to pay Anton £1,000 in compensation and perform 250 hours of unpaid work. He has also been compelled to commit to 20 days of rehabilitation.

Supermum

LEILA Roy would have been touched by the number of donations that poured in for her son.

Maybe one of the reasons so many people wanted to help was because it often seemed that they came as a team – a devoted mother and a loyal son, who even in his younger years would be watching in the public gallery and political meetings.

Over the years, we had hundreds of conversations with her – so many of them would feature how Anton was doing. She explained her worries and her hopes for him.

Both had reason to be proud of each other. Anton is now 18 and is going to study data science and computing at Birkbeck University.

Leila Roy [Linda Grove]

He spoke with great maturity earlier this month when talking to the New Journal about how the fraud case had knocked his confidence but he wanted other people to come forward if they suspect they are being defrauded. You might expect him to be bitter about everything Alexander Shayler.

In truth, his mother’s old colleagues are the ones that are most incandescent, unable to ever fathom how this could be done to a teenager who had lost his mother so suddenly in 2021. He won’t let himself be distracted from what Leila wished for him.

“One of the main aspirations my mum had for me was for me to be able to follow my dreams,” he said. “What my mum always believed in was doing things by herself, working hard for things. I want to embody that and make her proud.”

RICHARD OSLEY