Tenants who lived in a ‘New York-style’ dockside complex were surprised to find their rent was being paid to its former concierge
04:00, 28 Feb 2026
The Lexington on Princes Dock(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
In the dock of courtroom 31, the defendant in the smart grey overcoat stood to address the judge. “I know why I’m here, and I’ve just got to take what’s coming either way”, he bluntly remarked. “It’s already gone on for quite a long time. It’s been quite hard to deal with.”
Adam Hume’s path to the brink of prison did indeed date back quite a long time, nearly three years in fact, to March 2023. Working as the leasing manager at the Lexington building on Liverpool city centre’s famous waterfront, he was responsible for letting out units within the 35-storey luxury block of flats.
The building boasted “New York-style” living on Princes Dock when first opened in 2021, a complex complete with its own cinema and gym, as well as a sky lounge and rooftop garden.
But Iain Criddle, prosecuting, would later set out during a sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court how, over the course of the following two months, Hume had rented out a number of apartments, six in all, but had the tenants pay their fees into his own account rather than his employer’s. As such, he was able to fraudulently pocket a total of £11,913.13 which had been due to the development’s owners, Moda Living.
A scheme as unsophisticated as this was always likely to be discovered, and quickly so. And, as such, his deception inevitably came to light in early June, when Moda contacted an innocent resident to enquire why he had not been paying his rent, no doubt to his surprise.
The company followed the trail of breadcrumbs back to the man who had been a familiar face around the apartments since his days working onsite as a concierge. When confronted, Hume pledged to repay the monies and claimed that this sole tenant was the extent of his fraud.
But then a second case emerged, followed by the remaining four, let to international tenants and students and as Airbnbs. This led to an interview with the police, in which the now 29-year-old admitted his crimes and stated that he was “in debt because of extraordinary expenses”.
Hume, who has no previous convictions, represented himself in court, appearing emotional and tearful as he said: “These offences are something that I did because it seemed, at the time, like the only way out of a situation. I never set out to do it.
“I had the opportunity to basically get someone moved into a property via my bank account. They were desperate to move in. What started off as trying to help someone led to a couple of other people asking for the same thing. The initial person told their friends they’d managed to get in through this way. They were asking if they could do the same.
“It started off trying to help someone, and then turned into what seemed like a way out without anyone getting hurt, which I know isn’t the case. At the time, the position I was in, I had some issues with the abuse of alcohol and drugs. I was in debt, and that really clouded my judgement of the situation.
“If I’m being honest with you, I was desperate to get out of the situation I was in. That then turned the trust that was built into me seeing it as a way out, then finding myself in too deep to try and fix it. I didn’t know how to.
“Then, when it got brought up, it was like a house of cards that came crashing down. I was then faced with the fact I was losing the job I’d worked so hard for and I loved. I betrayed the trust of all the people who gave me a chance. The only thing I could think to do was repay what I could.”
Hume has since repaid nearly £3,000 of the monies he stole, leaving Moda around £9,000 out of pocket, and has also gained new employment. With his dark hair cropped on the top of his head and shaved on the sides, he added: “Outside of that situation, I’d started to get clean, which I have been ever since. I’ve stopped drinking. I got myself out of the situation I was in.
“While the person I was when I was doing it knew it was wrong, I was a completely different person. He knows what he’s done. He knows he has to accept what comes with that. I just want to express how sorry I am to my old colleagues. The past two years that this has been going on, the worst part of it is knowing what I did to them.”
Hume, of Durham Way in Netherton, pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and six of false accounting, relating to doctored bank statements cooked up as part of the theft, during his first appearance before the magistrates’ court. He was ultimately handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days, as well as being told to pay Moda in full at a rate of £400 per month.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “You were entrusted to collect money and pay it into the landlord company’s account. Breaching that trust fundamentally, you directed tenants to pay money into your own personal account.
“This happened over approximately two months. It was fraudulent and repeated. It seems, quite clearly, that the funds you did obtain were then used to repay debts which had accrued as a result of your involvement with controlled drugs.
“It is almost three years since this offending, and there is no suggestion that you have behaved in a similar way since. I bear in mind your early admissions. You cooperated with investigators. You are of good character.
“I do consider that there is a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation here. I do consider, from what I have read about you and observed today, that there is quite real remorse, so I am going to suspend the operation of the sentence.”