A FOOTBALL club chairman has admitted pocketing more than GBP276,000 from the life insurance and pension policies of a murdered father – that he helped set up.
Bill Williams, chairman of non-league Tipton Town, betrayed the family of company director Andrew Diack – just days after he was stabbed to death in a Black Country pub.
Williams listed himself as an executor of a life insurance and pension policy he helped to set up for Mr Diack while working as his accountant.
He then went on to clean out the policies, worth more than GBP276,600, after the murder.
Williams, of Chester Road, West Bromwich, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court today to admit two counts of fraud.
Devastated relatives of Mr Diack, who co-owned Featherstone-based firm Spray Tanker Services, today said they had never been able to properly grieve while the fraud investigation was ongoing.
When Bill Williams visited the devastated partner of Mr Diack she thought she had no reason for concern.
Williams had worked as an accountant for the company which Mr Diack part-owned and Rachel Evans assumed he had the family’s best interests at heart.
But in the months that followed, the sinister reason for Williams arriving at the family home on that day in February 2009 became clear.
He had not been there to offer help and support, but to get his hands on documents that would net him an insurance payout from a policy he had helped to set up.
As well as coming to terms with the violent death of her partner at the hands of a knifeman at the Flying Dutchman pub in Wolverhampton, Miss Evans has now had to deal with the knowledge that the man she once trusted went on to steal more than GBP276,000 from her dead partner.
Miss Evans, who was days away from giving birth to the couple’s first child Megan when Williams visited her home, said: “Bill was really nice when he came to the house, telling me not to worry about a thing and that he would sort out all the financial arrangements.
“I was heavily pregnant with Megan so it was a weight off my mind.
“He collected a load of documents and that was it. He said things like the mortgage or any bills I had would be taken care of by him and that I didn’t have to worry about any of it.”
Just a few days after the visit from Williams she gave birth to Megan, now aged two.
As she concentrated on looking after her newborn baby and her young son Reegan, Tipton Town Football Club chairman Williams was setting in motion plans to pocket life insurance and pension policies worth more than GBP276,000.
Yesterday (THURS) Rachel, was in court to see Williams admit the charges today.
She said: “He’s admitted the crime, but he’s never once said sorry. Even today, he couldn’t look us in the eye.
“He kept his head down, which tells you a lot about the type of person he is.
“In a way, we are pleased that he has pleaded guilty but on the other hand we know he has only done that so he will get a lesser sentence.
“To be honest, I’m just happy it is all coming to an end.
“This has been hanging over us two-and-a-half years. When he is sentenced it will finally be finished so we can move on with our lives and forget everything that has gone on.”
Today, it was revealed that it is not the first time Williams has committed fraud offences.
He was previously jailed for three years on two separate occasions in 1986 and again in 1996 for committing frauds totalling more than GBP200,000. In one case, he took GBP100,000 from an Anglican priest.
He used the money to employ semi-professional footballers for Harrisons FC of Great Wyrley, a team he used to manage.
Mr Diack, 29, from Wolverhampton, died after a friend’s birthday celebration at the Flying Dutchman pub in Merry Hill, Wolverhampton, in February 2009.
He was stabbed to death by Michael Brown, who had gone out for the night armed with a butterfly knife.
Brown hunted down his victim in the darkened pub using a mobile phone as a torch before he knifed Mr Diack once through the heart.
19-year-old Brown, of Langley Road, Merry Hill, was jailed for life in February last year with a minimum of 16 years for stabbing Mr Diack, whose daughter, Megan, now two, was born days after the killing.
Earlier this season, Midland Alliance club Tipton Town won a place in the First Round of the FA Cup for the first time, banking in the region of GBP20,000 along the way.
Today 58-year-old Williams kept his head down in the dock and spoke only to plead guilty to the two charges.
He was given unconditional bail by Judge Helen Hughes and will be sentenced on June 6
