A COPPLESTONE man who admitted stealing £300,000 intended for the Armed Forces veterans' charity "Help for Heroes" has been jailed for four-and-a-half years. Christopher Copeland (52), who formerly ran Copelander, which specialised in four-wheel drive off-road vehicles and which he set up at Morchard Road in the summer of 2010, gathered teams of fundraisers to collect donations from the public across England and Wales. At a previous court hearing he admitted charges of fraud and concealing criminally obtained property. Following that hearing Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court said Copeland faced a lengthy prison sentence. Appearing before Exeter Crown Court on September 15, Judge Wassall said that Copeland's actions amounted to a serious breach of trust. Copeland took his team of helpers in a van to large Tesco, Asda or Sainsbury's stores and collected money in buckets from customers. He told his helpers he was passing on the money to "Help for Heroes" but instead put it straight into his own bank account. He was caught when one of the volunteers became suspicious and tipped off Devon and Cornwall Police. The force discovered almost nothing had been paid to the charity. Sentencing, Judge Phillip Wassall said Copeland had shown no remorse but the case should not dent the confidence of people wanting to donate to the charity. Jo Brookes of "Help for Heroes", which raises money for servicemen and women injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, said after the case: "We are appalled that Chris Copeland exploited the goodwill of so many people towards our wounded men and women in such a calculated and devious way. "Help for Heroes' is grateful to our local fundraiser who first spotted what Copeland was doing and to the police and the courts who have made sure he didn't get away with it." Police said they believed Copeland was motivated by pure greed and used the profits from his fraud to build up his own business.