James Owen used card machines to funnel thousands of pounds into his personal bank account
James Owen outside Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A Liverpool City Council worker stole almost £40,000 from the taxpayer after issuing himself dodgy refunds with council credit card machines. James Owen, 36, used the local authority’s private PDQ (process data quickly) machines to funnel thousands of pounds into his personal bank account, along with his usual salary.
Owen, a dad-of-one, had been employed by Liverpool Council between April 2019 and September 2024. In 2024, an internal review discovered financial discrepancies linked to the PDQ machines used within the council’s market services, where Owen worked.
Between October 3 2023 and August 6 2024, £34,725 in refunds had been paid to a bank card across 299 transactions up to £700.
Between August 10 2024 and September 5 2024, a further £5,248 in refunds had been paid to another card across 42 transactions. In total, £39,973 of council funds had been fraudulently taken.
Both cards were linked to the same bank account, that belonging to Owen. In July last year, Liverpool Crown Court granted permission for statements to be obtained from Owen’s Lloyds account, which revealed “every refund transaction was present in his bank account, in addition to the salary he was receiving”.
Owen, of Arden in Widnes, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. He appeared in court today, January 14, for sentence.
Kate Morley, defending, said: “Owen is 36, has never acted dishonestly previously, and always prided himself on his strong character. That came crashing down following the unexpected death of his friend. He couldn’t cope, then turned to alcohol and cocaine to numb the pain and it spiralled out of control.
“Living alone at the time, he got himself into unmanageable debt and accrued addictions along the way. It was obvious self destructive behaviour, a cry for help.
“The one positive point was that he voluntarily desisted. He walked out, unable to cope with the pressure and guilt.
“On a positive note, he has somewhat pulled himself together, moved in with his father, ceased drinking to excess. He’s described as a low risk of reoffending and low risk of serious harm. The message of the pre-sentence report is that he’s a good candidate for rehabilitation.”
Sentencing, judge Simon Medland said: “You were in a good job which many people would have wanted, and for a period of time you enacted that properly. But you began to drink heavily and you began to take cocaine, which apart from destroyed your mental and physical health and apart from being a serious controlled drug, is astonishingly expensive, and you began to thieve from the public, the people who live in this city.
“You began to thieve from them and you continued to do until you had stolen almost £40,000 by making false, dishonest refunds.”
He sentenced Owen to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years. He also ordered him to carry out 20 rehabilitation day and 200 hours of unpaid work. He did not order Owen to pay back the money, but said Liverpool City Council would seek to regain the sum through the civil court.