A FORMER North East politician walked free from court yesterday despite admitting stealing £6,500 from his employer.

Jonjo MacNamara took money destined for a cancer charity as well as making false expenses claims as North East regional director with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

But he managed to dodge the threat of jail after Newcastle Crown Court heard he had stolen only because he was trying to pay off his employers’ debts.

MacNamara previously enjoyed a high-profile position in local politics, sitting as a Conservative councillor in North Tyneside, helping to spearhead his party’s drive for an elected mayor in Newcastle and bidding to become an MP.

But in April last year, just weeks before he was due to contest a seat on Newcastle Council, he stepped down from the party after being fired from his job at RIBA.

The court heard MacNamara had taken in the region of £6,500 over the course of a year, although it was impossible to identify the exact figure.

He had failed to bank around £4,000 collected for cancer charity Maggie’s, had falsely claimed £2,585 in fees for attending architecture panels, and had also falsely claimed for train tickets and newspapers on his company’s expenses. But in a highly unusual turn of events, the cash wasn’t going into his own pocket – it was being used to pay off a personal loan he had taken out to cover work-related debts.

The court was told how MacNamara, 33, had organised a RIBA event on Tyneside, but the funding fell through.

He had already gone ahead with putting plans in place, leaving the company thousands of pounds short.

Instead of admitting to his bosses he had jumped the gun on the funding, he took out a £40,000 personal loan though an acquaintance.

It left him saddled with £500-a month repayments, which forced him to sell his car and move into rented accommodation. He started helping himself to company cash to try to cover the payments.

Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said: “He took the view that he was responsible and took it upon himself to reimburse his employer. He was robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

He added: “His fellow employees, who worked beneath him, were concerned that charity money was not being banked, and that led to an investigation.”