A young psychotic man who booked himself a chocolate massage when he was sent to Champneys luxury spa by Kids Company cost the charity £55,000.

Camila Batmanghelidjh, the organisation’s founder, tells The Sunday Times Magazine that she refuses to apologise for such lavish spending on disadvantaged children and young people. “Dave cost us about £55,000,” she says — though elsewhere the figure is put at £73,500 in one year.

Batmanghelidjh remains unrepentant about such spending, which contributed to the charity’s collapse in 2015. “I don’t apologise for buying the kids nice things,” she says. “You can’t have a consumer society driven by brands and say that these children can’t have it. In the ghetto they rely on material goods for self-esteem.”

Speaking ahead of the