A disgraced former headmaster of one of Britain’s top private schools has denied splashing thousands of pounds of school money on cricket tickets and settling his own parking fines.
Julian Johnson-Munday, 63, is accused of abusing his position at prestigious Culford School in Suffolk to bankroll personal things using a school credit card.
Appearing at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, the ex-head pleaded not guilty to four fraud charges, including two counts of fraud by abuse of position and two of fraud by false representation.
Prosecutors allege Johnson-Munday spent £1,860 on cricket tickets and used school funds to pay off £80 in parking fines between November 2021 and August 2022.
His trial was set for February 21, 2028.
Johnson-Munday worked for the private school, in Bury St Edmunds – which charges fees of up to £30,780 per year for day pupils and up to £48,795 for full boarders – for 19 years prior to his suspension in January 2023.
International students who board face costs of up to £52,515 for the year.
The school is set in 480 acres of Suffolk parkland and counts MPs, finance bosses, a former Rolls-Royce chairman, and football commentator John Motson among its alumni, while the Prince and Princess of Wales were rumoured to have considered sending Prince George there.
Julian Johnson-Munday, 63, has been charged with fraud over claims of abusing the role of head at Culford School in Suffolk
At Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, Johnson-Munday entered pleas to an amended charge sheet, denying two counts of fraud by abuse of position and two counts of fraud by false representation
The 18th-century mansion was named one of Britain’s six most architecturally beautiful schools by Tatler magazine in 2019
The mixed-gender school, which takes pupils up to 18, was founded in 1881 and moved to Culford Park, near Bury St Edmunds, in 1935.
The 18th-century mansion was named one of Britain’s six most architecturally beautiful schools by Tatler magazine in 2019.
In an earlier statement the school said it was ‘aware that there are ongoing legal proceedings involving its former headmaster and continues to cooperate fully with the relevant authorities’.
‘As the Crown’s legal proceedings are currently active, the school will be making no further comment beyond what is already in the public domain.’