Hotel son’s secret shame

GUILTY: Scott Baker (left) with his father Anthony at the Saddleworth Hotel

A SADDLEWORTH Hotel director secretly stole almost £50,000 from the family business to make up his low wages.

And discovery of that crime led to the discovery of his fiancee’s involvement in a half-million-pound “proceeds of crime” case.

Scott Baker (39), who runs the popular wedding venue on the A62 above Delph, stashed the cash in a safe in a Manchester depository, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The theft was discovered when police broke into a vault owned by Baker and his fiancee, Daniella Green (36), in Oxford Street, Manchester. They believed the cash might have belonged to Green’s former boyfriend, cannabis dealer David Statham, who died in a traffic accident in 2006.

Days before Green and Baker were due to go on trial for money laundering, Baker admitted he had stolen the £47,000 from the hotel.

Baker pleaded guilty and received a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

He said took the money because he felt his father Anthony, who founded and owns the business, wasn’t giving him a fair share of the returns. The family has since forgiven him and helped to pay his legal costs.

The investigation revealed Green had taken control of a mansion from her late, gangster lover in Littleborough before his death.

Green, of Marfield Avenue, Chadderton, admitted involvement in the retention of criminal property and was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

She told the court she had bought the land for the house legitimately in 2003 and Statham had taken over the project. Her name remained on the documents, so when he died she took control.

Judge Andrew Gilbart QC ordered her to sell the house and pay £535,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The couple, who have a daughter, must each pay £1,000 in costs.