Dream Team nightmare: 'Children's friend's' secret past

Paul Dean, who helped found the charity, had admitted around 70 charges of making obscene calls and sending obscene letters to young children.

That was in 1986. On Friday, Dean, 30, of Woodgrange Drive, Southend, was convicted of trying to snatch a four-year-old boy from a housing estate and jailed for five years.

After finding him guilty, the jury heard Dean was given six months' probation in June, 1986, for the phone calls and letters. He'd asked for 68 other similar offences to be taken into consideration.

Miss Angela Morris, prosecuting, said: "The material concerned what he would like to do the two boys.

"It was of a homosexual nature."

Ten years later, Dean, 30, and wife, Maree, set up the Dream Team, based at Priory Works, Priory Place, Southend.

The charity sent numerous local children on special days out to places and introduced them to TV stars.

It raised £250,000 in its first year and laid on trips of a lifetime for sick youngsters to Disney World.

The judge, Mr Recorder Christopher Moss, said he would not speculate what Dean would have done with the child he had tried to abduct.

He added that he believed Dean had planned the abduction while his wife, the chairman of the charity, was away in Nottingham.

The Old Bailey heard Dean went to a Plaistow, east London, housing estate on October 18 last year.

At about 6.30pm he tried to snatch the four-year-old. His mother was watching from the balcony and became concerned when he disappeared.

She called the little boy's name and saw a man running away.

She found her shocked son and asked him what had happened. He replied: "He nearly took me away."

Miss Morris, said: "Dean had hold of the little boy in his arms and would not let go."

The court heard the boy was held for two or three minutes before the mother's intervention.

A passer-by took down the number of Dean's car.

Dean denied the charge, telling the jury he had not been to the estate, but shopping at Lakeside at the time.

Miss Penelope Barret said: "His conviction means a number of people will lose an enormous amount of benefit. He acted as a fundraiser and had little contact with the recipients."

The judge told him: "Children have to be protected from people like you."

He added that he was satisfied the charity itself was properly run and nothing could be said against it.

Media attention - Dean loved to be photographed doing charity work for the Dream Team. (We have obscured the youngster's face to preserve his anonymity)

Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

'Scandal will hit funds'

The founder of a Basildon charity which helps children with cancer today spoke of her shock at the news of Paul Dean's imprisonment.

Molly Durkin, 68, of Moretons, Pitsea, runs the group, Cushions.

She had met Paul Dean a few times, when the Dream Team helped children she had looked after.

She feared all children's charities might be hit, as families and donors would think twice about becoming involved.

She said: "It is hard going, raising money because we are such a small charity. Big firms only like to sponsor big charities because they know they'll get publicity.

"We are all going to suffer from this."

She expressed surprise that Dean had been involved in the Dream Team's registration with the Charity Commission, given the stringent checks she had undergone when Cushions was registered.

She continued: "It took us 18 months and the forms are very difficult to fill in. They're like a book.

"What went wrong? He shouldn't ever have been allowed near children."

Charity: 'No link with us'

The Dream Team denied any current link with founder Paul Dean, claiming he had not been involved for as much as 18 months.

Evidence read out in court claimed Dean was the general manager of the charity - but a spokesman said he had left "of his own accord."

The group's Paul Andrews added that Paul Dean and wife and Dream Team co-founder Maree Dean had not lived together since the end of 1998.

He said: "Paul Dean has not been involved with the charity for the last year to 18 months and we have heard nothing from him.

"When he decided his career was not with the charity any more, he left to get another job.

"Obviously, we were concerned for Paul, but have not heard from him since he left. It was his choice to leave and we have not really had a chance to speak to him.

"There is nothing we can really say about the issue because we haven't been kept informed."

Mr Andrews added the charity had gone from "strength to strength" since Dean had left, particularly with its Millennium Million appeal.

The group plans to raise £1 million in time for the millennium celebrations, to be spent realising the dreams of sick, disabled and terminally-ill children throughout the UK.

He said: "We have now launched our first national fundraiser, and don't want this to mar our efforts.

"The children are the only reason the charity is there."

Mr Andrews added the Dream Team had been adopted as the official charity for Chelsea Football Club's Football in the Community Scheme. Mr Andrews added: "It is a testament to how big the Dream Team is becoming."

'He couldn't have been a nicer man'

A woman whose son's dream came true because of Paul Dean and the Dream Team today said she could not believe it was the same man.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said the Dream Team had gone out of its way to make her son happy.

She said: "I can't believe he would do anything like that. He could not have been a nicer man, and he didn't do anything bad that I knew of.

"My son went on his dream trip the week before he died, and they went out of their way to make it as nice as possible for him. Nothing was too much trouble."

She went on: "It's amazing someone could be so good and do so many good thing, then be charged with abduction of a young boy.

"He never came across as any sort of person who would do that."

Another woman, from Laindon, who also wished to remain anonymous, said she had met Dean several times when she took her son to Dream Team events.

"He had appeared to be a "normal bloke."

However, in contrast to the Dream Team's claims that Dean had not been involved for 18 months, this woman said she had seen him at a party held by the organisation last Christmas - two months after he was charged.

She added that Dean's wife, Maree, had been evasive about his whereabouts: "She said was in Australia, or somewhere else."

Commission probe

The Charity Commission has established a working group to look at the problem of criminals setting up charities.

It follows the revelation that Paul Dean already had a conviction for making obscene calls and sending obscene letters to young boys when he helped found Dream Team.

Dream Team was registered in April, 1997, a year after Dean was convicted of the offences.

A statement from the commission said: "It is clearly undesirable for a paedophile to be involved inappropriately in the running of a children's charity, and the Charity Commission would wish to take any action it can take to protect any charity that finds itself in this situation.

"We regularly work and exchange information with the police and local authorities to help promote and protect the welfare of children and the integrity of children's charities, not just from paedophiles, but from all kinds of abuse.

"We are also contributing to an inter-departmental working group on preventing unsuitable people working with children.

"If allegations of child abuse are brought to our attention, we will, of course, look at them.

"We would, where appropriate, use our power under the Charities Act to liaise with the police and appropriate local authorities."

'Dean's ego was profound'

A former associate of Paul Dean and the Dream Team today said the Charity Commission should be made to answer how a man with a criminal record could slip through the net.

The man, who asked not to be named said: "How on earth does somebody with this man's record set up a charity and deceive would-be donors? It's incomprehensible! He was very, very friendly towards children and now we know why.

"Dean loved being photographed and being associated with children.

"His ego was profound."

Dean's wife, Maree, was the charity's chairman, yet Dean often spoke down to her. He said: "He would belittle her. I felt very sorry for her. There was definitely a public face that was sympathetic and nice and yet I have seen him reduce his wife to tears when things hadn't gone his way."

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