Book-keeper jailed for stealing pub’s money

A BOOK-KEEPER who claimed he had won the lottery as he stole £220,000 from the owners of a pub has been jailed for three years.

Philip Kennedy roped in three friends to help empty the account of the firm who ran Cafe Borgia in Paisley, Renfrewshire.

Pub boss John Kerr – who thought Kennedy was a friend – was left paralysed for five months as a result of the stress caused by the fraud.

Kennedy got the trio to cash cheques he had marked in their names after being tr usted to handle the company finances. He tried to cover his tracks by claiming he was doing this to “help out” the pub.

A jury heard how Kennedy then treated two of the friends to an all-expenses-paid holiday to Portugal – insisting he had a big lottery win. But, the 48 year-old is now behind bars after his three accomplices exposed his con at a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Kennedy was convicted of f raud last month and remanded in custody. Yesterday he was jailed for three years for his crime.

Speaking after Kennedy’s conviction, Mr Kerr said he believes the stress of seeing his business collapsing led to him falling ill with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which left him paralysed “from head to toe”. He said: “The past five years have been hell for me – a living nightmare. I thought I was going to lose everything because of this.”

Kennedy was a bookkeeper with Robb Ferguson and Co in Glasgow city centre and gained access to a cheque book belonging to a client, PJ Enterprises, who ran the Cafe Borgia bar in Paisley, which was kept at the Robb Ferguson offices.

Ross, Smith and Lafferty, from Paisley, all pled guilty before the trial to a charge of “acquiring criminal property” in connection with Kennedy’s fraud. Smith was jailed for eight months for his part and Ross and Lafferty were given community service orders of 300 hours and 250 hours respectively.