An ICT manager who cheated Shelley College out of thousands of pounds by ordering goods in their name which were later sold on internet sites has only £2,338 available for compensation, a court heard.
Richard Stewart Boynton was jailed for two and a half years in October last year after admitting conspiracy to steal.
Leeds Crown Court heard today (Thurs) Boynton’s proceeds from crime was £75,004.54. He was said to have assets of £2,338 available and that was confiscated and will be paid in compensation to the college.
At last year’s hearing at the same court, Patrick Palmer, prosecuting, said Boynton’s dishonesty came to light in 2013 after an anonymous tip-off.
Boynton was on a salary of £30,000 a year and had access to a budget of £250,000. He was responsible for ordering IT equipment and making sure it was kept secure and documented on the college’s asset register.
When inquiries were made it was found that some of the items ordered by Boynton in the previous two years including 179 Samsung SSDs could not be found.
Others such as Intel i7 computer processes had also been obtained which were not even compatible with the equipment used in the school and were not found on the premises.
Further checks revealed some had been sold through an eBay account within days of their purchase.
The loss to the college from the purchases was around £50,000 with Boynton’s making around £18,900 profit from the sales. Toner cartridges were also ordered and sold on.
When arrested by police Boynton claimed to be a successful gambler saying he had funded his purchases privately.
Michael Walsh, representing Boynton, said he deeply regretted what he had done which was out of character. Prior to his involvement he was regarded as an upstanding member of the community.
It had begun after he was diagnosed with a tumour in 2010 which had to be removed and was tempted to try and make some provision for himself and his partner.
He then had major surgery later that year for the removal of lymph nodes in a 14 hour operation and when he returned to work having realised how easy it was to take advantage of the system had continued to do so.
Jailing Boynton, 31, of North Grange Road, Leeds Judge Robin Mairs told Boynton he had betrayed the trust placed in him.
He said: “You were at the end effectively running your own business on college funds. In these days colleges can little afford the loss of such monies.”
