Pub boss in faked Wolverhampton raid avoids jail
The licensee of a pub in Wolverhampton who faked his own robbery to steal thousands of pounds from Marston's brewery has been handed a suspended prison term and ordered to carry out community service.
James Harding arranged for two of his friends to pretend to attack him as he walked down the road with a bag of cash from his pub as if he was taking it to the post office.
He even agreed to be punched in the stomach to make his ordeal seem more realistic, Wolverhampton Magistrates Court heard yesterday.
Sukhi Rai, prosecuting, said that police became suspicious when they learned the 26-year-old, of Milton Road, Wednesfield, had been due to leave The Castle, on Wood End Road, on the same week as the faked attack.
She added that the plan was to split the money three ways. The court was also told that Marston's had refused to pay Harding back his £4,000 deposit because his stock had been down by more than £7,000 in April and May.
Ms Rai said stock had been down due to Harding hosting lock-ins with his friends and offering them free alcohol.
Officers then discovered that the amount of money 'stolen' from Harding during the faked robbery – £3,881.75 – was similar to the amount the brewery had refused to pay him back.
Harding was arrested on May 10, when he told investigators he had been drinking heavily since splitting up with his partner of nine years.
At a previous hearing, Harding pleaded guilty to theft of £7,000 worth of stock between January and May, a theft in May covering the bogus robbery, and obstructing a police officer in the execution of duty by falsely claiming he had been mugged.
Mohammed Kasujee, defending, said: "As a result of this incident Mr Harding is homeless and penniless and he has lost his relationship.
"He is a young man and since leaving school at 16 he has always been in this trade.
"Until December he was a man with a future, but in the last few months everything has gone downhill.
"He wants to get his life back on track."
He was yesterday given 12 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
Magistrates also ordered him to serve 100 hours of community service and said he must be supervised for 18 months.
Additionally, he must pay £80 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
