Debt-ridden worker stole £100k of BOILERS from bosses
EMPLOYEE WITH ‘IMPECCABLE’ 15 YEARS OF SERVICE JAILED
A SENIOR supervisor who got himself in a ‘terrible mess’ after spiralling into debt defrauded his company out of tens of thousands of pounds by taking boilers.
Michael Banks, from Tameside, was caught on CCTV taking 20 appliances from
New Charter Building company.
A further nine boilers were taken from the repair and maintenance company, a court heard.
The 37-year-old, who had been a trusted employee for 15 years, defrauded the firm out of £101,000 over a six-month period in 2018.
The issue came to light when an audit was undertaken at the company as part of an internal investigation. The court heard that Banks, of Hardy Close in Dukinfield, was a ‘person of trust in the company’.
He pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
Defending, Patrick Buckley said: “The terror that debt brings to people’s lives cannot be underestimated.
“It brings individuals to the point of suicide.
“He has waited over two years for his fate to be sealed. “He is going to prison when the world is spinning in the wrong direction for so many people.
“I am very well aware of how serious it is when an individual steals from those who put food on the plates of that individual’s kith and kin. Fifteen years of impeccable employment and then he does this.
“I don’t have words for it, it’s so upsetting. [He said] ‘I’m not the man I was two years ago’.
“From the arrest to today, it’s over two years.
“A man of good character to live with this. It was a mistake a long time ago.”
Banks was sentenced to two years and three months at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
Judge John Edwards said: “You are 37-years-old. I treat you as a man of good character.
“You got yourself in a terrible mess, a quagmire of debt.
“And your life has been shattered. The impact on the company is so significant, costing thousands.
“The company provides domestic appliances for the social housing sector.
“Resources and time had to be put into the investigation.”
The terror that debt brings to people’s lives cannot be underestimated Patrick Buckley, defending