A TRAINING guru - who offered guidance to apprentice sports coaches in Blackburn - has been rapped over £2.5m in missing public funds.

Company director Judy Andrea Roach could not account for cash supposedly paid out to tutors and assessors totalling £1.77m, according to the Insolvency Service.

And the 54-year-old was unable to explain how £171,000 was paid to family members, for services rendered, and why £41,000 was paid to a contractor for work done on Roach's home.

Her firm, JAR Training Consultancy, which had received significant payouts from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, went under in March 2021.

One unnamed college alone had dealings with her totalling £2.49m.

But a lack of accounting records meant turnover of nearly £2.5m, from the company's incorporation in September 2015 to its demise, could not be verified.

Roach, of Thamesmead, south London, has now accepted a seven-year disqualification from being a company director after an Insolvency Service investigation.

Mark Bruce, the service's chief investigator, said: "Every limited company has a legal duty to maintain accounting records, especially those that receive millions of pounds worth of public funding.

"Judy Roach, however, totally disregarded her duties, which meant she was unable to explain exactly what happened to more than £2.5m of income provided by the government.

"Thanks to the joint working between the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Insolvency Service, Judy Roach has been removed from the corporate arena for a substantial period.

"Her ban should serve as a stark warning to other rogue directors that action will be taken against those who misuse public funds and abuse the taxpayer.

Howard Tobias, the ESFA's enforcement head, added: "I am pleased to note the success of this new joint working between the Insolvency Service and ESFA.

"Failing to keep or deliver up books and records will not preclude the directors of such companies from further scrutiny and sanction.

"This outcome demonstrates that the ESFA is prepared to take robust action and we will work with regulatory partners across government to hold them to account.

Liquidators of JAR are said to be considering the recovery of the outstanding funds.