A SCHOOL bursar accused of pocketing £80,000 in a decade-long swindle has appeared in court.

Ronald Bainbridge, of Sparkes Close, Bromley, allegedly faked his CV to get the bursar position at the school.

He appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 17 charged with 29 fraud and theft offences alleged to have been committed while he worked at Ravensbourne School, Hayes Lane, Bromley.

Prosecutor Christopher Tarrant said: "Bainbridge was employed as a bursar at the school and the charges amount to more than £80,000."

It is alleged 59-year-old Bainbridge falsely stated he was a qualified accountant and an associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants when he went for the job in 1995.

Bainbridge is said to have siphoned off a series of debts owed to the school by Lloyds TSB bank and managed to cover up the thefts until August 2005.

He is also accused of fraudulently obtaining cash transfers, including one to fund a car.

Bainbridge spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

He has not yet indicated how he will plea.

District Judge Quentin Purdy said the charges spanned a protracted period of time and went way beyond the powers of magistrates' courts.

The case was then committed to crown court.

Bainbridge faces 25 counts of theft, one of obtaining money by deception, one of false accounting and two counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

All the alleged offences are said to have taken place between July 13, 1995, and August 31, 2005.

Bainbridge was granted unconditional bail to appear for a preliminary hearing at Southwark Crown Court on September 19.