New details for former Kimberley College principal Paul Thomson’s fraud case

A ‘skip full’ of evidence relevant to a case against a former Kimberley College principal accused of embezzling money from his school was allegedly destroyed after he was sacked.

Former Kimberley College principal Paul Thomson, 79, and daughter Amy Leigh Ferguson, 38, leave Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

A “skip full” of evidence relevant to a case against a former Kimberley College principal accused of embezzling money from his school was allegedly destroyed after he was sacked.

A defence lawyer made reference in a Brisbane court to the shocking allegation in a fraud case against his client, the college’s founding principal Paul Thomson.

The cases against Mr Thomson, Mr Thomson’s daughter – and the school’s former chief financial officer – Amy Leigh Ferguson, and Ms Ferguson’s husband Kevin Robert Ferguson were mentioned in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The father-daughter duo, both from Carbrook, stand accused of using the school’s funds as their own personal piggy bank from as far back as 2012.

Mr Thomson’s defence counsel raised perceived concerns on Thursday with how Queensland Police Service had handled its investigation and made the bombshell claim a “skip full” of financial documents relevant to the case had been destroyed.

Defence barrister Tony Morris questioned Sergeant Anthony Hartley, formerly the officer in charge of the investigation, about whether he was aware of the ‘missing’ documents.

“There is other evidence in these proceedings that some 30-odd cartons of financial records were held by the school …,” Mr Morris said.

“There’s also evidence in these proceedings that a skip full of financial documents was destroyed.”

The Magistrates Court in Brisbane. Picture: NCA Newswire / Dan Peled

Sgt Hartley said he was not aware of the documents and thought all relevant data the school held had been handed over to police.

It was previously alleged by the defence that the issue of “destroyed evidence” related to an incident that took place at Kimberley College in 2018 after Mr Thomson, 79, and Ms Ferguson, 38, were sacked.

Ms Ferguson’s defence barrister Isaac Munsie also claimed the senior police officer leading the investigation had recently come into possession of an additional 14 boxes of school records containing potential evidence such as receipts.

Mr Thomson is facing four charges of fraud of or above $30,000 and a count each of extortion, false declarations, and computer hacking, while Ms Ferguson is accused of seven counts of fraud of or above $30,000, two counts of computer hacking, and a count each of perjury, extortion, and fraud.

Mr Ferguson, who allegedly played a lesser role in the offending, is accused of three counts of receiving tainted property and one of fraud of or above $30,000.

The committal hearing will continue on Friday with the cross-examination of other witnesses, including an arresting police officer and a former Kimberley College guidance counsellor.