A THIEVING treasurer stole thousands of pounds from his own motorcycle club, "ripping it apart" and sending it to the brink of closure.

Joseph Insull left WAC motorcycle club, also known as Worcester Auto Club, nearly £7,000 in debt, after siphoning off almost £11,000.

Insull pleaded guilty to three counts of theft by employee and two counts of false accounting and was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court.

The Worcester-based club has been established for more than 80 years but Dawn Thomas, who was the club's chairman at the time, believes it was 'one committee meeting away from closing'.

Insull, of Aston Road, Willenhall, near Walsall, had left them in 18 months rent arrears with Worcester City Council, around £3,500 in debt with nPower and two to three months behind with Malpas Stallard, which supplies alcohol to the club based in Perdiswell.

Insull denies that he left the club in arrears with the energy company and the council.

Miss Thomas said: "I had to go on bended knee and ask them to give us leeway with our debts and they were absolutely brilliant."

It was only because of the hard work and incredible generosity of its 150 members that the club managed to get back on its feet.

"We've had to fight to keep the club going because we were down to our last couple of hundred pounds," said Miss Thomas.

Insull joined the club in late 2010 and was elected treasurer in May 2011, committing his crimes between September 2011 to December 2013.

"He fitted in really well - we are a friendly group, we're like family, and he became a good friend.

"We trusted him. We called him "The Lad".When it all came out we just couldn't believe it. It tore the club asunder."

Insull denies he was known as "The Lad".

Miss Thomas, from Checketts Lane, said she was shocked when she went to the bank in December 2013 and discovered the account was almost empty.

"I was sick to my stomach," she said. "These are all dear friends, we're a close club and it got very emotional because he was one of us.

"He was a young lad so we worked hard to make him feel part of the family and he repaid us by taking our trust and friendship and trod it into the ground.

"We were shocked someone we voted into a position of trust could betray us."

Insull was given a 12 month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months, and ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work.

At court, the former chair read a victim impact statement on behalf of the club in which she detailed the emotional and financial problems following the theft.

But now the club has finally got some money back in the pot and has put measures in place to ensure it can never happen again.

Members even managed to raise about £1,000 for Acorns Children's Hospice while battling to save their club.

They are now looking to the future with a busy events calendar including its open bike night on the second Tuesday of every month from 7pm to 11pm.

Miss Thomas also credited Donna Francis, who stepped in as treasurer in the aftermath, for managing to sort everything out and getting their financial records back on track.

"We are a small club of only about 100 members, many of those retired, and we wondered how would we ever pay our debts and keep the club afloat?

"We did because members, family of members and even some non-club members dug deep and gave what they could, with money or bike gear for us to sell, so our little 'family' could go on."

To find out more about the club, visit wacmotorcycles.co.uk.