A TRUSTED Carlisle salesman who was secretly abusing drugs and gambling carried out a £34,000 fraud against his employer in a desperate bid to clear his debts.

Anthony Crangle, 25, was jailed after Carlisle Crown Court heard he used customer accounts to order goods which he never passed on. He admitted fraud by false representation and possessing cocaine.

The court heard that Crangle, of Gloucester Road, Carlisle, committed the offence while working as a regional sales manager for Crossling, the Kingstown based plumbing merchant.

His job gave him a car, a phone, responsibility and prospects, the court heard.

But over two months, the defendant – who was unable to pay back money which he had borrowed - began taking items from the firm’s warehouse, mostly Worcester or Baxi boilers .

In total, the value of the goods he wrote invoices for and which could not be accounted for was just over £34,000. Crangle submitted 42 fraudulent invoices for goods he is believed to have sold.

When the issue came to light police searched the defendant’s home and found white powder, later confirmed to be cocaine. As he was arrested, Crangle said to the officers: “You’ve just ruined my weekend.

Jeff Smith, for Crangle, said he began taking drugs after a woman with whom he was in a relationship had a miscarriage. “And his response to that was to start taking drugs,” said Mr Smith. As a result, Crangle’s drug debt accumulated quickly.

The people he owed money to threatened him and his family, saying they would burn their house down, said Mr Smith. Crangle turned to gambling in the hope of raising the money he needed.

The lawyer said: “He found himself in a descending spiral, which was always going to lead to the disaster that is now realised. It was always going to lead to him being discovered…but his rehabilitation is now heading in the right direction.”

Crangle now worked as a window cleaner, added the lawyer.

As he passed sentenced, Judge Nicholas Barker said the background to Crangle's fraud – committed in the summer of 2019 – was his two “ugly secrets”. “One was an unhealthy relationship with drugs and you also had an unhealthy relationship with gambling,” said the judge

“Those two relationships took over your life.”

Those issues dominated his life to such an extent, said the judge, that Crangle borrowed from loan-sharks.

This was a “hopeless course” of action - as was attempting to gamble his way out of his problems. Crossling customers, said the judge, were always going to call up to complain that they had not ordered the goods involved and which never arrived anyway.  

It was clear, said the judge as he referred to the business impact statement, that the damage inflicted on Crossling was not just financial. The trust placed in the firm by some loyal customers had also been affected, creating reputational damage.

But the judge accepted Crangle was remorseful. He jailed the defendant for 20 months.