Sheffield fraudster gambled away thousands “within hours” of scamming family business

David Bradley joined an air monitoring equipment firm in Gloucestershire as a field service engineer in January 2018, said prosecutor Amy Earnshaw.

They were initially happy with his work, but within a month he said companies in Barnsley and Dubai were offering liquidated stock, at 75 per cent of their value.

Bradley said they could only accept cash and offered to broker the deals and store the equipment at his father's farmhouse.

But his employers became suspicious when he couldn't supply a criminal record check or account for the whereabouts of the stock.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that Bradley fabricated fake emails from “TRS Clearance” and “Dragon Rentals.”

He was arrested in October 2018, but the investigation was delayed when he refused to give officers the password to his encrypted computer.

Bank documents revealed that large payments from his employers were received into his account and he would spend £3,000-£7,000 the next day on online gambling.

"When his bank account became low he would fabricate a new invoice," said Ms Earnshaw, adding it would take the "small family business" a year to rebuild their losses.

The court heard Bradley has previous convictions for 16 offences, including thefts from an employer, for which he received ten months in August 2017, and 41 months in January 2020. He was on licence at the time of the new offences, Ms Earnshaw added.

Michael Cane-Soothill, mitigating, said: "The defendant is confident the first two invoices were fulfilled."

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC asked: "How does that help you when the companies are wholly fictitious? The crown's case is that this is a complete scam from the word ‘go’."

Mr Cane-Soothill said gambling became a problem for the Newcastle University graduate after the death of his brother when he gambled away £200,000 of insurance money.

Bradley briefly stopped gambling while working in Saudi Arabia, but began again after his return to the UK, and "lost friends, employment and self-respect" before dealing with his gambling problem while in prison.

The father of two was released in August last year and is currently servicing Covid testing equipment.

"This case didn't reach the magistrates' court until January 2020," Mr Cane-Soothill said. "He offers to re-pay £500 per month as long as he is working."

Bradley, 38, of Arbourthorne Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to fraud between February and May 2018.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC told him: "This is a case that demands a prison sentence and but for the complicating features you would have gone to prison for a very long time.

“There was a high level of sophistication and quite a plot in order to deceive your employers. You endeavoured to thwart the investigation.

"It is a miracle you have secured further employment. You will have to repay the money, or a goodly proportion of it.”

A four year sentence would have been ordered, but prison would prevent him from paying compensation and undo the progress Bradley has made, the judge said.

He sentenced Bradley to two years, suspended for two years, with 30 days of rehabilitation, 200 hours of unpaid work and a six-month curfew, from 8pm to 7am.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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