Tycoon jailed after 'lenient' sentence

Hinchliffe once owned Sockshop and Freeman Hardy and Willis

A businessman who admitted defrauding his company has been jailed for 18 months by Court of Appeal judges.

They had earlier ruled that a suspended sentence imposed at the Old Bailey was "unduly lenient".

Stephen Hinchcliffe, 53, of Dore, Sheffield, was given a 15-month sentence suspended for two years in April.

A judge had told the former vice-president of Hull City Football Club he would not get a custodial sentence if he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Facia group.

The remaining 20 charges of fraud against him were not proceeded with, saving the estimated £10m cost of a trial.

The Facia group, which had 850 shops and 80,000 employees, collapsed in 1996 with debts of £70m.

Its businesses included Sockshop and Freeman Hardy and Willis.

At his sentencing, the judge said Hinchliffe had already served part of a five-year sentence for a number of frauds surrounding the collapse in 1996.