Sandwell Council worker in eight-year job fraud
A council worker has admitted defrauding his employer by not doing his work properly after secretly taking a second job with the NHS – and getting away with the racket for eight years.
Peter Walker pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court to holding down a post with the health service at the same time as being paid around £150,000 to work full time for Sandwell Council.
He was supposed to put in a 37-hour week but admitted not doing the job in line with his contract for eight years during which time he was supposed to be working for the council as either a learning and development officer or people and talent development consultant.
The 46-year-old further confessed to submitting time sheets to his bosses which he knew were untrue or misleading because he was employed by, and had worked for, the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as a counsellor at the same time.
The guilty pleas were entered on the basis that he completed the contracted work for the council but did not do it when he was supposed to, the court heard. This is likely to be contested by Sandwell Council.
He claimed to have completed his tasks for the local authority in the evening or at the weekends, explained Mr Makkan Shoker, defending.
This has not been accepted by the prosecution and the case was adjourned to allow the local authority to gather more detailed information from his line managers.
The defendant has dropped an earlier claim that he was given permission to ignore the terms of his employment contract.
Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting, explained: “His work required him to spend a significant amount of time out of his office base.”
The prosecutor said the defendant was simultaneously putting in between 15 and 30 hours a week working Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the NHS service as a counsellor.
Walker, who was paid up to £30,000-a-year by Sandwell Council during the period of time covered by the fraud, also pocketed tens of thousands of pounds in a pay off when he left their employment in September 2014 after successfully applying for voluntary redundancy.
He started working for the Council in 2000 but did not become a Learning and Development Officer until six years later. His job switched to People and Talent Development Consultant in January 2013.
Walker, from Vicarage Street, Oldbury, started his second job in July 2006.
The case has been adjourned and Walker bailed.
