Sutton man followed £55K payroll fraud with bid to siphon off £27K

Robert Carlin altered bank details and diverted employees' salaries into six accounts of his own while working as a payroll clerk for Reflex Labels, in 2018, said prosecutor Steven Gosnell.

A private debt collector investigated the transactions, and Carlin left the company once he was challenged and arrested. He later paid back £9,910.

But Carlin joined an agency and found work with Bistro Pierre, where he carried out the same role in 2019 and made a similar attempt to divert £27,924.

Altered payroll details were picked up and the audit trail led back to him, said Mr Gosnell.

The court heard he has seven convictions for 14 offences, dating back to an offence of theft in 2011.

He last appeared at Nottingham Crown court in March this year, when he was jailed for 16 months after his conviction for harassment and breach of a restraining order.

Nicola Hornby, mitigating, asked the judge to take account of the sentence Carlin is already serving. He is due to be released in November.

"It is somewhat concerning that full admissions were made back in 2019 and it's taken a considerable period of time for them to reach the court,” she said.

A specialist nurse for veterans explained "where Mr Carlin was emotionally in the summer of 2019," Ms Hornby said, when he made an attempt on his own life.

"He was under mental health stresses at the time," she said. "He is making good progress and accessing that support.

"He recognises there is only one option today in terms of sentencing him. All that I say goes towards the length of that sentence."

Carlin, 40, formerly of Kirkby Road, Sutton, and currently of HMP Ranby, pleaded guilty to both offences.

Judge Steven Coupland told him: "Between 2018 and 2019 you were thoroughly dishonest. There was a sophistication to what you did."

On Thursday, he imposed a 26 month sentence which will start today. Carlin will serve half of that time in custody.

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