Sports editor jailed for defrauding paper €440,000

A FORMER sports editor of The People was jailed yesterday after defrauding his paper of more than €440,000.

Lee Horton used his position at The People to deceive owners Trinity Mirror for eight years, inventing 1,690 claims by contributors for sums between €180 and €460, knowing that only payments over €600 had to be referred to bosses.

He shuffled 12 different accounts for the non-existent stories, paying himself a total of €440,911.