A fraudster conned a luxury yacht company out of tens of thousands of pounds.
Former solider Barry McLaren previously walked free from court after sending a naked bondage picture of his ex-girlfriend to her mum. Two years on, he has been spared jail again after invoicing a firm for seven months of work - despite having been fired after just three weeks.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Tuesday, that the 50-year-old was employed by Plymouth-based Princess Yachts in summer 2020 as a contractor via Total Quality Recruitment. The business had furloughed much of its workforce during the pandemic and hired around 60 agency staff in order to clear a backlog.
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McLaren - from Greasby, Wirral - was one of them. But his employment was terminated in September that year after only three weeks, having failed to turn up for work on five separate occasions.
He continued to submit weekly invoices though, lodging a total of 27 - which contained his Princess Yachts manager's photocopied signature - and forging timesheets. This enabled him to claim a total of £24,102 in wages which he was not entitled to.
McLaren's swindle was not discovered until April last year, when he was contacted by Total Quality Recruitment and admitted his offences and apologised. He also said he would pay back the money at a rate of £200 per week, although he has so far not repaid any.
Under interview, the conman told police he had been "struggling financially" and "acknowledged it was wrong and said he was desperate for money at the time". The two companies agreed to split the losses 50/50, Total Quality Recruitment having paid McLaren and then in turn invoiced Princess Yachts.
One director at the former business resigned as a result of the oversight. McLaren, of Howell Drive, now works night shifts as an aircraft engineer at Airbus and is due to become a granddad in October.
Callum Ross, defending, said: "He knows and accepts he could very well be going to prison. Clearly it was a lengthy, sustained period of fraud.
"This is a defendant who made full and frank admissions in interview, and even before that to the agency. He is now working at Airbus and is contributing positively and productively to society through his employment.
"It assists society, the defendant and the court to have that employment continue and allow him to repay that money. He understands he will be firmly sat in the last chance saloon and the court will give him no more chances."
McLaren, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, has six previous convictions for six offences - including drink driving in 2019 and harassment in September 2020, for which he received a conditional discharge. He was also handed a suspended sentence in June of that year for disclosing a private sexual photograph.
This came after he sent an intimate photo of his former partner to her mother in an act of revenge. McLaren admitted fraud and breaching a suspended sentence over his latest crimes and was handed a 16-month imprisonment suspended for two years.
He was also told to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and was fined £500. This sum must be paid within three months, or he will face two weeks in prison.
Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt said: "It was a systematic and prolonged period of fraudulent activity lasting approximately seven months. In a series of 27 separate transactions, you submitted fraudulent timesheets.
"They were forged, in the sense that you used a photocopied signature in order to submit these claims for what amount to a little over £24,000. The real issue for me is whether I should suspend this sentence. There is clearly a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in this case. Since committing the offence, you have found yourself new employment.
"I accept you have been frank with your new employers. That will allow you to get your life back on an even keel and make recompense to those you defrauded. You are very much teetering on the brink."
McLaren could now be ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act. He will be brought back before the same court later this year as part of these proceedings.
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