Jailed couple ordered to pay back £50,000 swindled in car park scam
A couple who stole £50,000 from parking machines have been ordered to pay back their ill-gotten gains.
John Leslie Riley, then 62, and Alan Stephen Shelton, then 57, had worked at Blackburn Mall’s car park for 19 years, becoming deputy manager and manager.
Between 2015 and 2016 they concocted a method of opening a parking machine and taking out money while the other would act as a lookout, Preston Crown Court heard.
Riley was sentenced to 36-weeks in jail and Shelton for 30-weeks after they both pleaded guilty to the thefts at an earlier court hearing.
Metro reports that the pair would doctor transaction logs to cover their tracks and used the cash to go on lavish holidays.
Riley was sentenced to 36-weeks in jail and Shelton for 30-weeks after they both pleaded guilty to the thefts at an earlier court hearing.
An investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act has now revealed they jointly profited by £50,000.
Wayne Jackson, prosecuting, said that £37,000 was already held in a solicitor’s account to meet part of the penalty. He added that the pair were ‘jointly and severally liable for the amount’.
Judge Simon Newell accused the couple of acting for profit and personal greed’ and ordered them to repay the rest of the money owed within three months, or face a further nine months behind bars.
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The couple were caught out when two anonymous letters detailing their crimes were sent to management.
A police investigation discovered a wallet at their home containing holiday tickets they had bought.
Judge Newell added: “You have caused damage, harm and distress in the lives and emotions and in some cases the health of people you have worked with.
“You have breached their trust over a long period of time.”
