Dance school head who forged pupils' exam certificates is jailed

The principal of a London dance school has been jailed for two years for forging more than 140 exam certificates to boost her academy's reputation.

Amanda Brugnoli-Lines, 36, who admitted 21 counts of forgery and attempting to pervert the course of justice, collapsed in the dock at Guildford crown court after being sentenced.

She had asked not to be jailed so that she could look after her prematurely born seven-month-old son.

Judge Critchley said Brugnoli-Lines, now bankrupt, had caused "considerable distress" to parents and also a policewoman who was deceived into thinking she was a victim of harassment. "It was all a sham," said the judge, who described her as "malicious."

One of her pupils, ex-Arsenal footballer Ian Wright's daughter Bobbi-Lee, is understood to have been a victim of the fraud, conducted from 2001 to 2008.

The girl's mother Deborah, who had given Brugnoli-Lines investment advice and considered going into business with her, told prosecutors she felt "betrayed" by her supposed friend.

The teacher, whose school was based in Croydon, forged certificates for the Royal Academy of Dance and the Imperial Society of Teaching of Dancing.

She replaced genuine certificates with false ones, often showing a higher grade or better result to improve her standing with parents.

It is thought the true total of forgeries could be well over 1,000 in the eight-year period. Her deception came to light after one mother queried her daughter's ballet result with the RAD and was told the certificate was forged.

She responded to investigations with threats and false accusations of child abuse and tried to claim that she was the victim of a hate campaign by two parents who set up a new dance school with another teacher.