A fellow of Wolfson College has been jailed for fraud after stealing almost £240,000 destined for research

By forging names and signatures, Dr David Barrowclough, 48, manipulated the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) into giving him money reserved for providing financial support to archaeological projects. Dr Barrowclough, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, used the money to help pay for premium bond investments, to pay off his mortgage and to purchase a brand new Italian sports car, all while maintaining the pretence that the funding was going towards fake projects in Preston, Winslow, Pendleton and Ely. 

Having begun the scheme in 2005, Dr Barrowclough continued to receive unwarranted payments from the HLF up until 2013. Suspicions about the legitimacy of his activities were not raised until as late as 2012, when a misaddressed letter detailing an £18,500 payment to Ely museum for a project about which no staff members had heard found its way to the museum’s confused curator.

Dr Barrowclough, a former undergraduate at Wolfson where he studied Archaeology and Anthropology, had abused his position as a board trustee at the museum by claiming the money was required for an ‘Origins of Ely’ project. Upon confrontation in a board meeting, Dr Barrowclough rebutted any accusations of dishonesty; Judge Peter Murphy heard that he had claimed the money was not for personal gain.

But prosecuting counsel Luke Blackburn suggested otherwise, calling Dr Barrowclough’s actions “an abuse of his position... and a sophisticated offence for which there was significant planning”. Judge Murphy agreed, sentencing the academic, whose interests revolve around the long-term cultural developments of North West England and lowland East Anglia, to six years in prison. Having heard all the evidence, he described the guilty verdict as “more than justified in light of the evidence.”Judge Murphy also added that if the letter intended for Dr Barrowclough had not been sent to the wrong address, then the amount the Don manipulated away from the HLF could have been considerably larger. Despite having already paid back over £70,000, the fellow could also face further financial penalty, as HLF announced that they would be seeking reimbursement of the money through legal means “where it is cost-effective to do so”. 

Judge Murphy’s court also heard further revelations regarding Dr Barrowclough’s past criminal behaviour that he had concealed from Wolfson College upon applying for the job; no declaration of past criminal convictions was required during the application process, which asked interested applicants simply for a copy of their CV and an accompanying covering letter.Unbeknownst to college officials, in November 1997, Dr Barrowclough had been convicted for 12 counts of theft, sentenced to four years in prison and struck off as a solicitor.

Further information which came to light during court proceedings included Dr Barrowclough’s use of anti-depressant medication and a past attempt to commit suicide. Prosecuting, Mr Blackburn explained that it would have been “very unlikely he would have got any of these positions had [the college]known,” a suggestion substantiated by the removal of Dr Barrowclough’s online space on Wolfson’s website.

This is not the only recent example of fraud at Cambridge college. Earlier this year, a finance officer at Pembroke College was jailed for 30 months after she admitted to stealing almost £300,000 of college funds to fund her online gambling habit.