Former manager of The Clipper in Dartford jailed for fraud after taking more than £100k from the business

A pub boss stole more than £100,000 from the business over two years by repeatedly failing to deposit all the weekend takings at the bank.

It was not until discrepancies were uncovered for the first four weeks of January 2019 that Liam Sanders was caught by his employers.

The former general manager at The Clipper in Dartford High Street was confronted by head office staff over the differences, and he admitted to siphoning off £9,734.84 from the takings.

The 33-year-old paid back the full amount within two weeks, but it was then discovered that money had been going missing since 2017, totalling £102,862.45.

Sanders, of Port Rise, Chatham, denied any further involvement, but following a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court in March this year, he was convicted by the jury for fraud by abuse of position.

The former Northfleet Technology College pupil had previously pleaded guilty in 2022 to one count of fraud for the missing £9,734.84, but had denied the other count for the remaining £93,127.61.

At his sentencing hearing on Friday (April 24) at Maidstone Crown Court, prosecutor John Carmichael said MFA Properties, which owned the pub, had suffered “significant” financial loss.

He told Recorder Robert Ward that the firm was only able to survive due to its other profitable premises being able to “bail out” The Clipper.

The court heard that, as the general manager, Sanders had overall responsibility for depositing the pub’s takings at the bank the following day, and sending the till receipts to head office.

After weekends and bank holidays, multiple days’ earnings would be dropped off at the bank at once on either the Monday or Tuesday instead.

However, Recorder Ward told the court: “On a number of occasions, one day was held back and not put into the bank at all. This can be seen from the logs of receipts.

“The system left a lot to be desired. It is surprising no one in the head office picked up on it. This was allowed to occur for almost two years.”

He explained that if the firm had given the till receipts and bank logs “real scrutiny” earlier than January 2019, it would have noticed that they did not match up.

Mitigating, Jack Talbot explained that the offending was out of character, which Recorder Ward agreed with, but did question if it could be out of character if it occurred over an extended time period.

Mr Talbot argued that the dad-of-two had “held his hands up to the management” when confronted, and had no previous convictions nor had he been in trouble since.

He claimed that Sanders, who previously worked for Sainsbury’s, was “well respected” and had always “worked hard” throughout his life, as had his family, and he often worked six days a week.

He added: “It is a great travesty that he has ended up with this conviction against his name. It is a one-off.”

Sentencing, Recorder Ward said: “I accept this was out of character, and you have shown genuine remorse. I do find the remorse genuine and take into account your partial admission and repayment of money.

“This offence is very old now, and the [court] delays are a relevant factor. The delay is far too long for you to have had this hanging over your head.

“I have no doubt that it has had a huge impact on you and your family.

“The overall picture of your life is that of a hard-working, family man.”

Despite this, he concluded that there was an abuse of trust and responsibility, and due to the seriousness of the offences, only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

He handed Sanders a two-and-a-half-year stint in prison, telling him he was likely to serve around half before being let out on licence.