Round Tabler Robin Gilchrist has described his failed plan to embarrass a fellow committee member as "the most stupid thing I've done in my life".

The 40-year-old faces Oxford Crown Court charged with theft after he removed nearly £1,900 from takings from the Bicester Round Table's charity firework display in November last year.

He was the group's treasurer and is accused of stealing at least £1,589, but denies the charge, saying he always meant to return the money.

Gilchrist, of Rose Close, Bucknell, near Bicester, claimed he simply meant to embarrass the group's fundraising manager, Mark Nolan, who organised the display, by making the event look like a financial failure.

Gilchrist told the court how his 14-year-old son Michael, had a summer job at Mr Nolan's oil distribution firm last year, but had not been paid.

Gilchrist told the court: "I decided I was going to give Mr Nolan a piece of his own medicine and embarrass him by making it look as if the event had not raised as much as he anticipated."

Police later arrested Gilchrist and he handed over the £1,589. He said he had banked £400 in the group's account.

Gilchrist, a manager working for Cellnet, has now been thrown out of the Round Table organisation.

He said: "This was probably the most stupid thing I've done in my life. It really was very, very silly of me. I have regretted it ever since."

The case continues.

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