Worker in copper pipe fraud to pay off his debts
A conman defrauded the company he worked for and one of its suppliers out of thousands of pounds by ordering copper piping and selling it on to scrap dealers.
Carl Startup, from Essington, bought copper piping from Grahams Builders Merchants and had it sent to Choice Heating and Plumbing (CHP), where he worked as a carpenter.
He used false order numbers to make the purchases and sold the piping to scrap metal dealers, pocketing the money for himself.
CHP, which is in Lichfield Road, Wolverhampton, lost out on £3,042 because of the fraud, while the supplier company was fiddled out of £1,776.
Mr Kaulbir Paul, prosecuting at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court, said: "He had said he had debts to service, a young family with Christmas fast approaching."
Father-of-three Startup, aged 31, of Parks Crescent, Essington, Wolverhampton, told the court he was 'ashamed' of his actions.
He previously pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud by false representation, all carried out between October 3 and November 12 last year.
He was given a six-week community order yesterday with a curfew requirement.
Startup, who the court heard now works in London, was also ordered to pay £2,750 in compensation and a £60 surcharge.
Sentencing him, district judge Graham Wilkinson said the compensation figures were lower than the amount he stole because the suppliers would have been able to buy goods for less than it sold them for.
He added: "You are stealing because you apparently have lots of debts, three children and it is Christmas.
"You have not told your current employer what you did to your previous employer, which was effectively use the trust they gave you to steal from their suppliers."
Mr Wilkinson added: "You probably made quite a lot of money out of that and, of course, the others have lost everything."
