Director stole from own company
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• After changing his plea to guilty on 12 of 24 charges of dishonesty and admitting a further two offences, a former director of a haulage company was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at York Crown Court last week.
Prosecuting, Mr G. Rivlin alleged that the man, Mr Charles Rispin, of Anlaby Road, Hull, had stolen from Rispin of Hull Ltd, while employed by the company as operations director.
Mr Rispin and his wife who was also employed by the company as a Secretary and wages clerk, prospered by means of defraud while the firm went into a financial decline, alleged Mr Rivlin.
Mrs Sandra Rispin was acquitted on two joint charges with Mr Rispin when the prosecution offered no further evidence against her.
Earlier in the hearing, Mr Geoffrey Rivlin, prosecuting, alleged that Mr Rispin had stolen from the company "in every possible way" and outlined how Rispin had set up a driver with a truck and then diverted work his way from Ris pins of Hull Ltd. He said money collected for removals by other drivers on behalf of the company was kept by Rispin.
Mr J. M. A. Barker, for Mr Rispin, said the amount his client gained from the company was £882, which he was prepared to repay. He said Rispin had already suffered considerably, losing his business, home and reputation in Hull as a businessman. He said he had sold his house at North Newbold for £18,500 of which £12,000 had been repaid to the bank in guarantees when he had stood for the Rispin company.
Mr Justice Maise said: "As a director of this company you had considerable powers and you had a Wide discretion, and confidence was placed in you. . You must understand that directors of companies are supposed to be responsible and honest people. Businesses could not be carried on if that was not the position. You abused the confidence placed in you, and dishonesty by a director of a company is a very grave matter".
The Judge said what Rispin had done went far beyond' a fiddle, submitting false documents and deliberately cheating the company in a number of different ways and over a considerable time. The Judge added: "I give you sufficient credit to believe that you are bitterly sorry for your dishonest practice. Believing as I do, that you are not likely to offend again, and since I do not believe that sending you to prison is likely to do you any good, or to deter others, I see no useful purpose in sending you to prison and you must consider yourself a very lucky man".
When the trial opened, on March 6, Rispin denied 24 charges involving false accounts, theft, giving false information, obtaining property by deception and attempting to obtain property by deception and obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception. Mrs Rispin had pleaded not guilty to six joint charges with her husband of false accounting, theft and obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.
The judge told Mr Rispin that he was very lucky to avoid going to prison for defrauding his employers and added that Mr Rispin defrauded the firm of a considerable amount of money after it was taken over by G. A. Woodcock, a Sheffield company.
He directed that eight of the charges against Mr Rispin and four other joint charges against him and his wife would remain on the files.