A bank worker who stole a customer's savings after racking up online gaming debts has been spared prison.
Barry Nicholson abused his position of trust at Barclays Bank to plunder £6,000 from an account which he thought was dormant. Newcastle Crown Court heard he set up a standing order from the victim's account to his own.
The fraud came to light in January last year, after the victim, a student, had returned to Mexico. Nicholson had been the advisor she spoke to in November 2020 when she called the bank about some purchases.
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Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said: "The defendant located her account, which he had access to. He changed the phone number attached to the account and generated an access code which allowed him to gain access to her account.
"He set up a weekly standing order of £500 then increased it to £2,000 a week. He entitled it 'B Nicholson Gumtree speaker'."
Nicholson admitted three counts of fraud by abuse of position and two of attempted fraud, which related to attempts to take further money after the account had been emptied. The £6,000 was eventually refunded to the customer by the bank but Barclays were left out of pocket.
When Nicholson was quizzed, he initially claimed the money related to a large speaker he had sold online but went on to make full admissions, saying he had done it to pay significant debts from online gaming apps.
The 51-year-old, of Willow Dene, East Rainton, Houghton-le-Spring, who has no previous convictions but has a caution from 2002 for forging documents in relation to a prescription, was sentenced to 14 months suspended for 12 months with 200 hours unpaid work, rehabilitation and he must repay the £6,000 at £300 a month.
Recorder Jason Pitter KC told him: "While working for Barclays Bank you abused, in the most gross way, your position to steal £6,000. Those were her savings. You only need to pause for a moment to consider the anxiety that would have caused her.
"You thought you were taking the money from a dormant account but there was always a risk it belonged to someone, as it inevitably would have done. But you were thinking only of one person, which was yourself."
Annalisa Moscardini, defending said the student had returned to Mexico and the account appeared dormant. She added: "He is incredibly ashamed of this."
The court heard he reached the rank of sergeant in the armed forces and served in Afghanistan and Bosnia but left due to injury. Miss Moscardini said: "He sought solace in a game which racked up a large amount of debt. He was worried about his wife and other loved ones and didn't know what to do and eventually took this very very bad decision."
She added that he has since been working for the NHS and for a dog rescue centre.
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