A LEADING charity faced prosecution and fines of half a million pounds yesterday after mishandling the private information of thousands of dementia sufferers.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that a group of untrained and unsupervised volunteers at the Alzheimer’s Society was handling the private information of nearly 2,000 dementia sufferers and their families.

Despite improvements over the last year, the commissioner warned that unless more was done the charity could be fined up to £500,000.