Boss’ greed cost staff their jobs
FRAUDSTER JAILED FOR ‘DESPICABLE ABUSE OF TRUST’
A SOUTH Shields businessman has been jailed for fraudulently selling a company’s belongings on eBay, causing the firm to go bust.
Nine staff lost their jobs when Tyneport Coatings folded following Jason Fairbairn’s “despicable abuse of trust”, stealing company property to sell for his own personal gain.
The former technical director abused his position, swindling thousands of pounds from the paint firm.
Despite claiming innocence at Newcastle Crown Court, a jury this week found the 49-year-old guilty of four counts of fraud.
Fairbairn, of Rowanwood Gardens, Gateshead, has now been jailed for three years.
Detective Constable Leigh Booth, of Northumbria Police, said: “This was a despicable abuse of trust and Jason Fairbairn’s selfish actions had an irreversible effect on the company which he worked for.
“A number of people lost their jobs as a result of the discrepancies caused by his greed, and he must now live with that on his conscience.
“Throughout the trial, Fairbairn insisted his innocence and hoped his specialist knowledge in a complex industry would disguise his dishonesty.
“Our message is clear - we will leave no stone unturned when pursuing anyone involved in fraudulent activity and we will always endeavour to bring perpetrators to justice.”
The court was told how Fairbairn was approached by a business partner to set up Tyneport Coatings in December 2013, a company which specialised in industrial paint and coatings.
This followed the winding up of Practical Compounds, a similar company which had been in existence for almost four decades and where the defendant had previously worked in a number of different roles, including managing director.
Given total control over production and ordering at Tyneport Coatings due to his technical knowledge of the industry, Fairbairn was issued with two company credit cards.
However, as his personal financial situation worsened, police say it became apparent that Fairbairn had been taking company belongings away from the South Shields site over a number of years and selling them for his own gain.
Fairbairn was suspended in February 2015, pending an internal investigation into a string of suspected irregularities, after which he tampered with his work computer to sabotage the production of company products.
In May 2017 Tyneport Coatings Ltd went into liquidation and ceased trading, with the company’s nine staff made unemployed.
As part of the investigation into Fairbairn’s activity at Tyneport Coatings, financial discrepancies also came to light during the businessman’s time at Practical Compounds.
During his time at both firms, Fairbairn was found to have been selling company products via an online eBay operation he had set up in 2009.
Iris Robertson, whose late husband Alan founded the original company Practical Compounds in 1974, admits Fairbairn’s actions have had a “profound effect” on her life.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Robertson said: “Myself and husband Alan worked hard to achieve what was an amazing company with so many prestigious projects in the UK and world-wide.
“The failure of the company was very stressful for me.
“It made me angry and sad, as myself and Alan liked and trusted Jason.
“I am lonely and sad thinking about what my husband had achieved.
“I am glad my husband does not know how Jason has betrayed us.”