A trusted employee who stole nearly £150,000 from a family business and spent the money on Harrods shopping sprees has avoided jail.
Gerrard Hartley, 53, pocketed the cash from his scrap metal boss over a period of five years – using it to fund his luxury holidays and gambling trips.
Oblivious to the fraud, staff at the firm in Keighley, West Yorkshire, even laminated a photo that Hartley had sent them of himself while on holiday in Mexico – and stuck it up on their wall.
But the company ripped down the picture when the truth emerged.
Hartley was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
His former employer Michael Galloway, 71, who has run the firm for 34 years has been left ‘absolutely disgusted’ by the decision.
Bradford Crown Court heard Hartley abused his position as an administrator at T Holmes & Co between March 2017 and late 2022, to siphon off £146,972.25.
Mr Galloway said: ‘Knowing that our hard-earned money funded this lifestyle has caused me additional distress, anger and a deep sense of injustice.
Hartley’s former employer Michael Galloway (pictured), 71, who has run the firm for 34 years has been left ‘absolutely disgusted’ by the decision
‘Gerrard was someone we trusted as family.
‘To learn that for years he had been secretly stealing from us while sitting at our table, sharing celebrations, has caused deep emotional distress that I still struggle with every day.’
Mr Galloway said the photograph of Hartley enjoying the highlife, cigar and Dom Pérignon champagne in hand – ‘really hurt’.
Mr Galloway said: ‘When you look at the photos, he plays the part [of a fraudster].
‘It shows him in Mexico sat there with a bottle of Dom Pérignon Champagne, in shorts, on the veranda with a cigar and he sent it to us.
‘Now when I look back at these photos I think, “you pilchard”.
‘On his wage that he was on, how could he afford all those holidays?
‘I never really knew where he went.’
The court heard Hartley also bought high-end items from stores such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton.
Mr Galloway claims Hartley travelled to various locations in the period including Marbella, Majorca, Venice and Las Vegas.
Oblivious to the fraud, staff at the firm in Keighley, West Yorkshire, even laminated a photo that Hartley had sent them of himself while on holiday in Mexico
He said he is ‘100 per cent dissatisfied’ with the sentence imposed on Hartley, adding: ‘It is no sentence at all.’
Mr Galloway said he did not believe Hartley is remotely remorseful for the harm he has brought upon the family and business.
The court heard Hartley, who had no previous convictions, had been assessed by an expert in gambling disorders, who concluded the offending would not have taken place otherwise.
Recorder Cox said he was satisfied Hartley’s remorse was genuine and he had used the time since his offending to take steps to rehabilitate himself.
Mr Galloway added: ‘What happened about me and my 147,000? What about me as the victim?
‘We were hoping for a custodial (sentence) of anything. I felt absolutely disgusted.’
Hartley will also have to comply with a Mental Health Treatment requirement and attend 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
He will face further court hearings later this year in relation to the Proceeds of Crime Act which can be used to recover stolen money.