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Ex-Sandwell Council finance boss in £29,000 fraud

A former Sandwell Council finance boss who illegally pocketed more than £29,000 has been spared an immediate stint behind bars.

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David Pottinger defrauded the council to the tune of £29,118 by transferring money earmarked for children with special needs into other accounts.

The former senior administration finance manager blamed mounting debts after his marriage breakdown for his actions.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, the 35 year old was given 16 months in jail suspended for two years for the 'sophisticated' fraud.

He previously admitted seven offences relating to abuse of position as an employee of Sandwell Council by fraudulently getting his hands on cash meant for families with children with special educational needs. The money was supposed to be used to assist with school travel costs such as taxi fares.

Prosecuting barrister, Mr Mark Jackson told the court the defendant had transferred the money using cheques and the BACS banking system. He had used his position to wrongly authorise the payments to families that did not exist or to pupils whose names were not on the list.

Mr Jackson said the council had protection procedures in place but Pottinger, of Hawkins Street, West Bromwich, had got round the system by 'hijacking' the computer user name and password of another employee who was not involved in the fraud. He had deleted the email address of another finance officer which allowed the payment requests to go through.

The fraud was carried out from October 2013 to May 2014.

Mr Muktar Ubi, defending, told the court that Pottinger was 'remorseful'. He said his wife had left him for another man, taking their son to live in Devon in 2012, and that the subsequent divorce had left him in serious financial difficulties. He said Pottinger had voluntarily signed over his council pension towards repayment of the money.

Recorder Ms Sandra Bristoll also sentenced Pottinger to a nine-month supervision order, a six-month curfew between 8pm and 6am, and 150 hours unpaid work.

He must pay a surcharge, costs to be fixed and will be subject to a Proceeds of Crime application.

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