Married dad stole £40k from his bosses and blew it on booze, drugs and prostitutes

21.01.2022 - 21:17 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

A branch manager for a renowned decorating supplies firm fleeced the company out of £40,000, flogging paint for cash and then pocketing the money for himself.

George Smith, 33, a married father, blew it on drugs, alcohol and prostitutes, a court heard.

A £27,000-a-year manager at the Trafford Park branch of Bromborough Paints, Smith sold paint and wallpaper to decorators for cash and then fiddled the books to cover up his crime.

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He joined the firm in September 2016 and was 'in a senior position with a high degree of trust', prosecutor Rachel Widdicombe told Manchester Crown Court on Friday afternoon.

"He was also expected to set a positive example to other members of the team," she said.

But his thieving came to light when the firm's fiance director and friend, Giuseppe Alfonso, spotted a discrepancy of £5,000 during an audit in May 2019.

He realised it had been created by an individual accounts log-in attributed to Smith.

The 'adjustment' was dated January 2018, some 18 months after Smith had started working for Bromborough, now known as PaintWell.

Smith, from Northwich in Cheshire, was suspended and an investigation by the firm concluded he was behind theft, mostly of paint but also some wallpaper, worth £61,184, said Ms Widdicombe.

He had started off stealing goods worth £348 in January 2018 but gradually the value of his crimes increased, to £5,729.

In a meeting with Mr Alfonso, Smith at first blamed company training but when told the crime would be reported to police, he 'accepted his responsibility', according to the prosecutor.

He told his employer he had 'got himself in a rut' and had developed addictions to drink, drugs