Cash fraud worker spared prison

A building society consultant who moved money from his workplace into accounts to pay his own bills has been given a 200-hour community order.

Stuart Gray, from Surrey, who admitted fraud at an earlier hearing, moved £125,000 in 2006 and 2007 to pay tax.

A judge at Southwark Crown Court said he considered a jail term but suspended it because of Gray's remorse and the effect it would have on his family.

Gray, 48, of Lightwater, repaid funds to the Abbey National, the court heard.

Judge Christopher Hardy said he was suspending a 12-month prison sentence for two years.

He said: "Abbey have lost nothing, but you have lost your good character, and for someone in your line of business that is very important."

'Secret codes'

David Castle, defending, said the computer expert first got into debt when income tax changes triggered a "double whammy" of demands.

He said: "He had numerous financial commitments, as anyone with a family would, and he first tried to deal with his problems by lawful means."

But he said the strain grew, Gray's depression mounted, and when a massive tax bill landed, he turned to crime.

Operational "gaps" during a merger between Abbey and Santander Banking Group gave Gray the ideal cover, he said.

Gray used secret access codes to make transfers into accounts, the court was told.

But when Abbey National colleagues found 19 book-keeping discrepancies, the database administrator gave himself up to police.

Gray, of Perry Way, admitted fraud by abuse of position, and unauthorised computer modification. He was ordered to pay £200 costs.