Suspended prison sentences over taking from NHS
Two employees who skimmed £ 22,000 cash from their employers have avoided prison – and escaped having to pay the money back.
Mark Barrell had been operations manager at the Maidstone branch of DHL couriers, which had a number of subcontractors, when he began pocketing payments for deliveries of wooden pallets.
The offence involved taking the goods from NHS Logistics in Allington and obtaining money from NI Pallets Ltd, which was alleged to have turned a blind eye in return for a reduced price.
It was DHL Couriers who lost out.
When Barrell moved to another department Andrew Smitherman took over, and threatened to give the contract to another firm if he was not given the same advantages.
Smitherman 32, of Catlyn Close, East Malling, pleaded guilty to theft of nearly £5,000 between November 1, 2011, and February 25, 2013.
Barrell, 41, who has since moved from Maidstone to Lonsdale Drive, Rainham, admitted fraud while working as an employee of NHS Supply Chain between September 1, 2009, and February 2013 to the value of £17,000.
Maidstone Crown Court heard the scam was uncovered after a DHL worker overheard a conversation an NI Pallets Ltd worker was having about it at a wedding.
Craig Evans, defending Barrell, said his client had only begun the arrangement in a bid to pay off his mortgage following the collapse of his marriage and had suffered a “huge fall from grace”.
Jason Dunn-Shaw, defending Smitherman, said: “This is not a man who lived a flash lifestyle. The money he received was spent on petrol, car maintenance and household items. This is not a case of gold taps and extravagance.”
But sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Philip St JohnStevens said the pair had used a dishonest scheme to line their pockets.
Smitherman was given 15 months in prison, while Barrell received an eight-month term. In both cases the sentences were suspended for two years.
Barrell was also ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, and Smitherman 80 hours. They were not ordered to pay costs or compensation.