A CONWOMAN who co-ordinated a scam to dupe wounded soldiers out of thousands of pounds has been ordered to pay back only £1.

Natalie Hornby, 39, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, accepted charity donations from people by posing as a Help for Heroes collector.

She obtained official memorabilia, including collecting tins, T-shirts, stickers and wristbands, by promising the charity she was collecting for it.

The mother-of-three was arrested last February and, after her trial, Hornby, of Railway Cottages, was convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud and jailed for 30 months.

Newcastle Crown Court heard she and three other women collected up to £45,000.

But yesterday, during a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at the court, Judge Brian Forster was told the lowest police estimate of illgotten gains was £15,800.

Penny Moreland, prosecuting, said: “Four defendants have benefited and that figure divided by four comes to £3,950 each.

“Natalie Hornby, Ellen Grant and Lydia Cummerson have no available assets, so I ask for them to make nominal payment of £1.”

The token £1 figure, which will not be enforced, means the courts will be able to apply to seize cash from the criminal gang if they come into money in the future.

Miss Moreland asked that Jacqueline Newnham, who has assets worth £13,000, be ordered to repay £3,950. She also successfully applied for a compensation hearing to be held on June 29 to determine whether more of her assets can be seized.

Miss Moreland said: “The damage done to this charity is incalculable.”

Tony Davis, representing Newnham, said the £3,950 could be paid within 28 days, but had resisted calls for the compensation hearing.

Miss Moreland asked for the full amount of the £3,950 from the POCA hearing to be paid to Help for Heroes.

Pubs, including The Strawberry, near St James’ Park, Newcastle were targeted by the gang, as well as stations, stadiums, arenas, concerts and other events in the city and Manchester between November 2009 and February 2010.

Newnham, 57, from Droylsdon, Manchester, who pleaded guilty to the charge, was jailed for 16 months.

Grant, 45, of Albert Avenue, Prestwich, Manchester, was found guilty and jailed for 15 months.

Cummerson, 41, of Falconwood Chase, Boothstown, Salford, was also convicted and jailed for 12 months.

The POCA hearing against Robert Hornby who admitted a minor part in the fraud and was given a four-month prison sentence – suspended for 12 months with supervision – was discontinued.

The charity declined to comment, but Lisa McKinlay, the widow of Lance Corporal Jonathan McKinlay, from Darlington, who was killed in Afghanistan in September last year, condemned the bogus collectors.

Mrs McKinlay, who is to trek across the Sahara desert to raise money for a military charity, said: “For people to be collecting money in the name of a forces charity, and it not going where it needs to go, is tragic.”

Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham and former veterans minister, branded the gang members “low-lifes”.

He added: “These people don’t know the misery wounded soldiers have to go through and I personally don’t know how this gang could have done this."