Car mechanic altered his pay cheques
A CAR mechanic conned money out of his employers by altering the numbers and words on his weekly pay cheques.
Timothy James Vicary paid the doctored cheques into his bank, but the scam was spotted by his boss when she came to reconcile the books.
The defendant’s own barrister called the con “ridiculous” and said it was one that was bound to be detected.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said the 41-year-old had been publicly branded “a thoroughly dishonest man” by his conviction.
Craig Jones, prosecuting, said Vicary worked as a mechanic on a selfemployed basis for Geraint Jones 4x4, a wellestablished family business in West Wales.
He said the defendant was paid weekly, with boss Margaret Jones writing his pay cheques every week.
The court heard that in January 2020 Mrs Jones was doing the company books and cross-referencing payments when she noticed “discrepancies” between sums paid out and the details in the chequebook stubs.
Four discrepancies were found on cheques from November and December and all related to cheques issued to Vicary.
Mr Jones said inquiries were made with the bank and it emerged the cheques which had been paid in had been altered “though the bank was not able to say by whom”.
The court heard digits and words on the cheques had been changed by Vicary, such as the number three changed to an eight. In total some £1,060 had been scammed from the firm.
The court heard Vicary was called in to the dealership but denied doing anything wrong and claimed there must have been an error at the bank.
In his subsequent police interview the defendant
had “no explanation” for how the cheques had come to be altered but suggested Mrs Jones may have made a mistake.
Vicary, of The Beeches, Llandysul, Ceredigion, had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of making a false instrument when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
James Hartson, for Vicary, called the scam “ridiculous” and said it was all but inevitable that the altered cheques would
be found.
He said it was perhaps “stubbornness” on the part of the dad-of-four which led him to maintaining his innocence to his employer and to the police and then before magistrates, where he entered not guilty pleas and opted for a trial at Crown Court before changing his stance.
Judge Paul Thomas QC told Vicary he had been a trusted contractor at a family-run business but
had repaid that trust with “blatant dishonesty”.
The judge said the defendant’s actions were “as cynical as they were unsophisticated” and he said it had taken Vicary a long time to come to terms with what he had done and accept he had been publicly branded “a thoroughly dishonest man” by his conviction.
Giving the defendant credit for his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced him to 30 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to complete a rehabilitation course and 150 hours of unpaid work.
The court issued a confiscation order in the sum on £1,060 – money he can realise through the sale of vehicles he owns – and directed that money be paid to the 4x4 garage as compensation.
Vicary was also ordered to pay £20,000 towards the cost of his prosecution.
DOGOWNERS are being warned to be alert after a high number of reports of dog thieving in Carmarthenshire and the rest of Wales.
A spate of dog-napping has left owners “scared” to walk their dogs alone after organised groups have been reported to be targeting lone walkers and isolated locations.
It is claimed that the thieves have also been posing as RSPCA workers and walking down streets using whistles in order for dogs to bark or look out the window and then be targeted by thieves.
Lisa Mallia was left terrified after people claiming to be RSPCA officers knocked on her door in Carmarthen at 11pm on Monday night.
The dog-owner said she first heard a knock at the door and was confused about who would be knocking at that hour.
“I had a knock on the door and thought ‘at this time of night?.’ It’s only me and my nine-year-old son in the house. I went to my door and looked through the peep-hole and saw a man and a lady standing there,” she said.
“They said ‘hello, we’re from the RSPCA and we’ve come to take your dog away because of reports of neglect’ and ‘we need to take the dogs off the premises now,” added Lisa.
Dubious about the late hour and after hearing about a spate of thefts in the area, the mum-of-one asked for identification from the pair who replied that they did not need any forms or ID as an investigation was being launched.
“I was wondering if it was real or not but then I have seen lots of things on social media about people taking dogs,” said Ms Mallia.
She added that the pair were both dressed smartly, had no distinctive accents and knew that she had a spaniel, but she felt that something was not right and contacted the police.
Luckily the mum kept her door closed throughout the encounter and asked for identification but has worries that vulnerable or elderly dog-owners won’t have recognised that something was wrong.
She said: “I think what could happen to people in more remote areas or vulnerable people who might not have access to all these warnings on social media.”
A spokesman for the RSPCA said: “We would like to remind and reassure the public that our inspectors and rescue officers all wear branded uniforms and carry identification.
“If one of our officers knocks on your door, please ask to see their ID and check their uniform for branding. Our staff wear navy blue uniforms with the RSPCA logo, as well as white shirts with a black or blue tie and black epaulets. Most of our officers drive either white vans or fully branded, wrapped RSPCA vans.”
An influx of warnings from West Wales and other corners of the country have been circulating on social media encouraging dog-owners to be alert and to avoid dog walking in isolated areas.
Carmarthen dog walking service Cwtch Canine also posted a message urging dog walkers to avoid certain places in Carmarthen after reports of dog thieves circling the area.
Social media is also reported to be used as a tool for thieves to target dog owners who are sharing their locations and when they are walking their dogs on online platforms.