BOLTON Pride co-founder James Edgington has admitted stealing more than £16,000 from Bolton Council.
The former Britain's Got Talent semi-finalist was employed as a theatre and events programmer for the council but Bolton Crown Court heard how he sold complimentary tickets, which were supposed to be given away for free, and pocketed the cash.
He also ensured money for other tickets, paid by purchasers was paid into his own account.
Standing in the dock, 34-year-old Edgington pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, attempted fraud and theft.
All the offences were committed between February 28, 2019 and April 12, 2021.
As well as directly stealing £737 from Bolton Council, Edgington abused his position as theatre and events programmer and fraudulently received, or attempted to receive, payments for events tickets to his own bank account and also sold free complimentary tickets for money.
The total amount of the fraud amounted to around £20,000, with Edgington, of Thicketford Road, Bolton, pocketing £16,400 of it.
He will be sentenced on September 19 after pre-sentence reports about him are prepared and, in the meantime, the Honorary Recorder of Bolton Judge Martin Walsh, granted Edgington bail.
But the judge warned him: "The fact that I am ordering a pre-sentence report and the fact that I am extending your bail is no indication as to what will happen to you when you are sentenced."
Edgington, who co-founded Bolton Pride in 2015, attracting support from celebrities such as Sir Ian McKellen, stepped down as director of the festival in March this year..
Edgington, who also worked as an actor and has appeared in hit TV series Downtown Abbey, first shot to fame in 2010 when he and his father Graham, reduced Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden to tears by singing their version of "This is the Moment" from the musical Jekyll and Hyde.
The pair received a standing ovation and reached the semi-finals of the competition.
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