A FORMER NHS consultant in East Lancashire has walked free from court after she confessed to paying her husband £11,000 from the budget of a southern NHS trust.

Paula Vasco-Knight created controversy in 2015 when the Lancashire Telegraph revealed she was a £1,000 a day consultant for the trust which runs the Royal Blackburn, Burnley General and Accrington Victoria hospitals.

But the 53-year-old from Liverpool faced more trouble when she was quizzed over a ‘transformation’ document she claimed had been drafted by her partner Stephen Vasco-Knight for the South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.

However the 200-page report, said to promote leadership qualities among NHS chief executives, never existed, Exeter Crown Court was told.

And Paula Vasco-Knight never declared an interest in her 46-year-old husband’s graphic design company.

She admitted to abusing her position as chief executive at the trust by authorising an £11,072 payment to her husband for the report.

Stephen Vasco-Knight pleaded guilty to fraud by submitting a false invoice to the trust for the document in November 2013. Both live in Green Lane, Liverpool.

Mrs Vasco-Knight, who rose from the ranks of nurse to chief executive during her 30-year NHS career, wept throughout the sentencing hearing.

Recorder Don Tait jailed Mrs Vasco-Knight for 16 months and her husband for 10 months but suspended both sentences for two years.

Mrs Vasco-Knight was given 250 hours community service and her husband 150 hours. They will face Proceeds of Crime Act hearings at a later date.

The court heard Mrs Vasco-Knight was on £170,000 as chief executive and earned an additional £27,000 a year for a one-day-a-week role as the national lead for equalities and diversity.

Passing sentence, Mr Recorder Tait told Mrs Vasco-Knight: “One cannot imagine a more serious abuse of trust and responsibility than your part. You were on a six-figure salary and you arranged for your husband to benefit from a contract of £11,000, money from an NHS budget we all know is under severe pressure for resources.”

Speaking after the case, Sue Frith, managing director of NHS Protect, which conducted the investigation, said: “Paula and Stephen Vasco-Knight defrauded the NHS of money that is meant for the care of patients.”