A bereaved United Utilities worker paid off drug dealers he owed by filling up their cars using his company fuel card. David Stephenson, 50, from Rochdale, used the card over 100 times to buy nearly £8,000 worth of petrol in just over a month.
He later admitted he had a 'pernicious drug habit' and said he had received threats from dealers so in 'desperation' resorted to using the card to fill up their cars for them, a court heard.
Stephenson, who had worked for the region's water company for 18 years but who lost his job after the swindle came to light, narrowly avoided being sent straight to prison by a judge who said he had 'abused the trust' of his former employer.
