Wisbech man Allan Harrison narrowly avoids jail after stealing £2,550 from Dersingham company Flights of Fantasy Creative Play

A man narrowly avoided jail after stealing more than £2,500 from his employers while being in charge of their finances.

Allan Harrison, 42, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by an employee.

Magistrates were told that after being employed as a financial manager at Dersingham-based Flights of Fantasy Creative Play last August, he proceeded to make a series of unapproved transfers to his own bank account.

Lead magistrate Paul Rosier told Harrison that his offence had crossed the threshold for a custodial sentence due to his “serious breach of trust” – and because of the fact he has committed a similar crime in the past.

He was therefore handed a six-month prison sentence, but had it suspended for a period of 18 months.

Crown prosecutor Lesla Small had told magistrates that after being hired last summer, Harrison had full access to the Dersingham business’ accounts.

A statement from the company’s director was read in court, which detailed a period towards the tail-end of last year when Harrison was absent from work after telling his employers he had contracted Covid.

Another employee was hired to step into the role while he was away, but during this time the company noted “irregular payments” being made into Harrison’s personal bank account.

A number of unauthorised payments were subsequently discovered, made during a time when the defendant had been allowed to pay his own wages from the business account.

By the time he was caught, Harrison, of Orange Grove in Wisbech, had paid himself an extra £2,550 from the Dersingham business’ money.

Ms Small said this caused “damage to the company”, with bosses opting to email Harrison asking for an explanation before contacting police.

He replied to those emails by saying that his mental health had been giving him “serious issues”, and that he had also been using the stolen money to help his “struggling” grandmother pay her bills.

Harrison also told his employers that he wanted to pay the money back, but had then run into problems in paying his own bills – and did not know how to tell them about it.

When arrested by police, Harrison made full admissions to his offence – and also added that he had used some of the money to fund a gambling addiction.

This ordeal followed a previous case in 2015 which saw him handed a three-month prison sentence, also suspended for 18 months. He had stolen £3,800 from his employers, a pre-school, on that occasion.

In mitigation on Thursday, solicitor George Sorrell said: “It is a breach of trust, also because of the suspicion it could have put on other employees.

“It is not of a very high value, but I do accept the defendant was in a very high position of trust as the company accountant.

“There were early admissions to the employer and police.”

John O’Grady, of the probation service, was asked to carry out a pre-sentence report before magistrates dealt with Harrison’s case on Thursday.

He told them that Harrison suffers from PTSD, and described an event in his life which contributed to that.

Mr O’Grady recommended handing him a community order with a series of requirements.

Mr Sorrell subsequently added: “In light of what has been discovered about the defendant, you may possibly ask yourselves if this (a prison sentence) can once again be suspended.”

Magistrates did indeed suspend the sentence, and also ordered Harrison to complete 180 hours of unpaid work during the 18 month period.

He will also be required to complete 25 Rehabilitation Requirement Activity days, as well as pay £2,550 in compensation to Flights of Fantasy Creative Play.

He was handed no additional legal costs or victim surcharge.

Mr Rosier said: “To some companies, that may not sound a huge amount – but having said that, it has had an impact on the company which employed you in good faith and good trust.”