A confiscation order for just £1 has been made against a sacked Black Country travel agent who stole more than £40,000 from his own family and from holidaymakers whom he tricked into handing over cash.

Shaun Allsopp stole £10,000 from Peter Chawner Travel , in Lower High Street, Wednesbury, which is owned by a relative.

He also siphoned £11,000 from his father’s bank account.

The 24-year-old later took a job with Future Travel, which allowed him to work from home, but instead of depositing cash from customers into an account he pocketed the money himself.

After he was found out and sacked, Allsopp continued to take cash from clients by pretending he still worked for Future Travel.

The offences came to light in September last year when Allsopp handed himself in.

In July, Allsopp, of Hollies Drive, Wednesbury, was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to three cases of theft, totalling £40,502, and 11 counts of fraud.

He was also ordered to do 240 hours unpaid work and given a 12-month supervision order.

Victims

Yesterday, a proceeds of crime hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court was told that he had benefited by £34,100 from the offences.

Hugh O’Brien Quinn, prosecuting, said there were queries about what had happened to some of the money, in particular a sum of £2,000, which Allsopp said had been paid to his father who was one of the victims in the case, and this had been accepted by the Crown.

The court heard that Allsopp, who spent the money on his gambling addiction, was not in a position to pay the money back.

Making a confiscation order in the nominal sum of £1, Judge Sybil Thomas said it meant that the case could be revisited at any time and other victims compensated if Allsopp came into money.

Afterwards Peter Chawner, of Peter Chawner Travel, said: “Justice has not been done”.

Mother-of-three Tracey Lewis, of Collins Road, Wednesbury, said she was appalled by the lenient sentence.

She and three friends lost £860 when Allsopp cancelled their holiday in Benidorm last September.

At a previous hearing Allsopp’s barrister, Rashad Mohammed, said the offences were out of character, and blamed gambling addiction.