Cashier had compulsion to steal from solicitors 34-year-old with mental health problems escapes jail term
ACASHIER who plundered £89,000 from a solicitors before spending it on watches and furniture has escaped a jail sentence.
Peter Fahey, who had a previous conviction for stealing from an employer, raided business and client accounts of Lewis Onions in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter for two years.
But, handing him a suspended sentence, Judge Roderick Henderson accepted he had mental health problems and had a “compulsion” to steal.
The 34-year-old, of Hazelwell, Kings Norton, who had previously admitted fraud, was handed a twoyear suspended sentence.
He was also made the subject of an indefinite criminal behaviour order banning him from working in jobs handling money.
Bernard Linnemann, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said Fahey worked for the solicitors between December 2013 and November 2016 and had failed to disclose the previous conviction, which had led to him serving a 16-month jail sentence.
“He was working for Lewis Onions solicitors as a cashier, which gave him access to business and client accounts,” said Mr Linnemann.
“Over a period of about two years he simply transferred money out of those accounts to his own Halifax account. One of the directors discovered an unauthorised transaction on November 3 last year.”
Fahey was asked to explain his actions but never returned to the firm, which suffered significant losses, and was investigated by the solicitors regulatory authority as a result.
When quizzed, Fahey said he was not sure why he had taken the money and that he had spent it on watches, furniture, clothes and household items, much of which he did not really need.
Tom Walkling, defending, said Fahey had made a serious suicide attempt and that his motivation for stealing derived from his mental illness. “He is being treated by the mental health services and it is hoped this can be brought under control,” he said. “The only person at risk of harm is himself.”