Preston football pervert stole £70,000 from employers to go on the run to the USA
A disgraced football club secretary who fled to the USA after being investigated for grooming a child has admitted stealing more than £70,000 from his employers to enable him to go on the run for five months.
David Aspden, formerly of Preston club Springfields FC, stole the money from Travelex at a Tesco store after his attempts to incite a 12-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity came to light.
Aspden, of Goldburn Close, Ingol, Preston, was suspended from his position after the parent of a child made a complaint to police in 2017, and jetted to the USA on Boxing Day 2018 after stealing the cash.
The 34-year-old failed to return to the UK for his court hearings over the sexual offences.
But on the same week his trial was due to start at Burnley Crown Court a judge allowed Aspden to enter a guilty plea via a video link from abroad.
He was ordered to return to the UK for his sentencing in June 2019, and received five years in prison.
Aspden, who was the trainee manager at a Travelex exchange currency branch in the Tesco store in Middleton, Greater Manchester, was later charged with theft by an employee in relation to the missing cash.
He admitted the offence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown court by video link.
He was given 14 months in prison as well as his five year term.
The courts previously heard how had verbally requested the youngster to perform a lewd act on himself in a caravan in Cumbria, but the brave youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, refused.
The boy confided in his mum more than a month later, triggering an investigation by Lancashire Police.