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Club thief is spared prison
Reporter: COURT REPORTER
Date online: 15 March 2010
Rugby treasurer walks free
A bank manager who stole thousands of pounds from a rugby club to pay off spiralling personal debts walked free from court on Friday.
Tim Kinder, of Sunfield Avenue, Oldham, stole money while treasurer at Waterhead Rugby League Club after sinking under mounting credit card bills.
Kinder (50) had handled the finances at the club from 2003 until 2007 because of his financial background as manager of the Oldham branch of high street bank HSBC. But suspicions arose in August, 2007. First a brewery, then a travel company complained they were owed thousands of pounds in unpaid invoices after cheques had bounced.
Kinder was arrested in October that year and told police he had “nine or 10” credit cards with debts of £85,000 on them.
He told officers he left his job at the bank in June, 2006, because of stress and had started his own courier company.
But with mounting credit card debts, he began forging signatures to cash cheques and created false invoices from his courier firm to the rugby club.
He also admitted setting up a “ghost company” in March, 2005, in order to secure a loan for the rugby club from HSBC — which would not authorise loans to sports clubs.
The money was used to pay off bills run up by the club.
Kinder was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday.
He was also handed a six-month curfew and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work for what a judge described as his “erratic and dishonest behaviour”.
The court heard that HSBC was owed £67,389 from outstanding loan payments and other debts on the club’s accounts.
Kinder admitted using £13,182 of the club’s funds to pay off credit card debts, created false invoices worth £5,500 and stole £6,907 of cash.
Addressing Kinder, Judge Bernard Lever said: “You appreciate the bank has lost £67,389 as a result of your fraudulent behaviour.
“People get stressed, people make bad decisions. That is an explanation, not an excuse.
“You robbed Peter to pay Paul. The whole thing snowballed out of control.”
Kinder had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to one count of obtaining money transfer by deception, theft, forging a cheque and two counts of fraud by abuse of position.
Mark Fireman, defending Kinder, told the court: “This was a desperate attempt to ward off the inevitable.
“He left his job suffering from a great deal of stress.
“He tried to set up his own company, his debts simply spiralled out of control to the extent that his monthly income could no longer meet those debts. He accepts that he took money that did not rightly belong to him and abused his position as the club’s treasurer in order to do so.
“The effect upon himself and his family has been extremely traumatic.”
The court was told that Kinder was due to be sentenced for fraud at Bury Magistrates’ Court after he admitted using his wife’s credit card to go on a £3,900 spending spree in January, this year, when he had started a relationship with another woman.
Mr Fireman said his wife had complained to police, but their relationship had since been reconciled.
Comments
If you can't afford it, then don't buy it. This guy should have been made an example of. The smiling thief.
Well if he's hurt no one lets all help ourselves to money which isn't ours.He might be a fool but looking at the picture he can see the funny side of being a thief.God help the victims of crime when Judge Bernard Lever makes a ruling. He seems so sympathetic to Mr Kinder it must have hurt him to make him do 300 unpaid hours Community service!
The crime has hurt no-one? Rubbish ! Who do you think pays for the loss to the bank ? The customers in teh end. Yes zz123, lets all rob others and smile as we are let off. Normal nowadays, commit a crime and get a slapped wrist. Stress? He has none now has he ?
What a joke, let off scott free with only 300 hours of unpaid work, that equates to £283.33 per hour, i wish i was on that a week, no wonder his smile fills his face the arrogant smug thief.
Morgana60, who has been hurt? A multi billion pound profit making bank lost of few quid, that's all. Let's keep it relative here. He's a thief who has just escaped jail and who will find it hard to ever get a job again. What purpose would it serve locking him up?
Starting your own business is extremely stressful so what possesed this man to do just that after leaving his previous job through stress. This must be such a deterent to would be thieves knowing that you can steal this amount of money and only have to do 300 hrs unpaid work if you get caught, well done Judge Lever.
It's it bad enough that banks are allowed to make profit from there own blunders and now we are sending out signals like this crazy
"ProDriver" The purpose of locking this laughing thief up would to say to the community, You thieve, you go to jail. This message says "You thieve, you get away with a minor tiny penalty, go on your way and do it again." "..hard to get a job again"? what planet are you on?
Just watch bank charges rise to pay for criminals like this. Everyone pays extra for people like him. Typical "British justice"
OldhamWatcher. He got a suspended sentence, a curfew order and community service. Who is going to employ this man? He will be a pariah in the local community, and rightly so.
Lets get it right banks are a industry of thieves anyways, even if they was not losing money in theft and bad investments, they still would hatch plans to shaft the public i.e Bankofscotland/Halifax giving you a fiver for opening a reward account and try to convince you they are doing you a favour, they do not mention you have to pay 12.50 a month so at the end of the day they are only giving you your own money back.
looks like he,s full of remorse doesnt he? Shame on him for robbing an amateur club whose only interest is playing the game they love every weekend. I,d love to meet him on the pitch!
prodriver makes my blood boil! if you cant trust a bank manager, who CAN you trust? it seems, these days, no one.
ok, nobody has been hurt, but mr kinder would have been if i found him pilfering from my account!
i am not a violent person, but the arabs do right to chop off thieves' hands.
i have worked very hard for what i have got. Why should i care if the effect upon him and his family has been traumatic? his smug gob doesnt look bothered to me...he has no morals, a cheat in every way.
If I read it right, he was stealing up to 2007, but then in January this year he stole again, but this time from his wife. No wonder this charmer is laughing.
If I understand a suspended sentence correctly he will have to serve his 9 months if found guilty in Bury so here's hoping he gets what he deserves. Has for nobody being hurt, Waterhead A.R.L.F.C could easily have gone to the wall, leaving hundreds of children volunteers and parents without THEIR club.
Have Your Say
In light of the awful financial mess created by the Government which has cost us tax payers billions it would have been wrong to jail this man for his crimes which have hurt no one. He's been a fool and will pay for it for the rest of his life.
By ProDriver @ 15/03/2010 12:43:24