Shop boss in £89,000 ‘penny press’ fraud

A GIFT shop manager at one of Yorkshire’s most popular tourist attractions has been jailed for more than two years for stealing £89,000 to fund his gambling habit.

Hull Crown Court heard Jason Metcalfe, 43, of Hamyln Avenue, Hull, stole money from two ‘penny press’ machines and put fake refunds through the tills of the gift shop.

At a previous hearing Metcalfe, who worked at The Deep in Hull for 13 years, admitted three counts of theft, seven counts of fraud and three counts of converting criminal property, with offences dating back to 2009.

His offences came to light after an internal investigation was launched in March 2015, when anomalies with the penny press takings and a large number of refunds were spotted.

He was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment.

Prosecuting Stephen Welch said: “Metcalfe said that he had a gambling problem and that he had gone through a very low period after the death of his mother. He started to gamble with his own money and The Deep’s.

“When his offending came to light, he told his employers he was very sorry, that he loved his job and had never done anything like this before.”

Afterwards The Deep’s chief executive Colin Brown said colleagues felt a “sense of betrayal” and Metcalfe’s actions had had an impact. “Some of the years this was happening was during the worst of the recession. There were actions which were taken which might not have been taken if the money was available to us.

“We never knew how profitable the penny press was - it was he who was always doing it. But most of the money we believe came from giving false refunds.”

Mr Brown said systems had been altered to avoid it happening again.