Court manager Ross McKenzie stole from court funds.
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A CORRUPT court official who swindled £40,000 of public money to pay for a new conservatory has been jailed.
Court manager Ross McKenzie, 35, stole thousands of pounds from court funds to splash out on a new extension for his family home.
The dad-of-two wrote cheques to friends and family members from a court account while working as an HM Courts and Tribunal Services manager at the Cardiff Civil Justice Centre.
A court heard court manager McKenzie would "spend on impulse" and "take risks" - splurging the stolen funds on two motorbikes which he didn't know how to ride.
But the court employee was caught out after Lloyds Bank noticed a mistake on a cheque for £4,750.
Prosecutor Nicholas Jones said: "The total fraud which he had admitted was over £40,000.
"The money had gone on the motorbikes and clothing, to pay off credit card debts, and on a conservatory at his home.
"McKenzie's crime came to light when Lloyds Bank had to return a cheque for £4,750 because of a mistake on it.
"Inquiries revealed one fraudulent cheque had been made out to a friend and others had been paid to his wife.
"She too was arrested but said she'd had no idea that he was stealing money and no charges were brought against her or anyone else."
Cardiff Crown Court heard McKenzie took £35,400 over 18 months before the cheque for £4,750 was stopped.
Defence barrister Andrew Jones told the court the fraud had traumatised McKenzie's family who "could not believe it" when he was arrested.
He said: "The shame on him and them is already absolute."
McKenzie, of Pentwyn, Cardiff, admitted fraud and blamed his bi-polar condition for making him behave in a "bizarre" way.
After jailing him for 18 months for fraud, Judge Michael Fitton QC said: "As a manager in Cardiff's Civil Justice Centre you were expected to set the highest standards of integrity.
"You knew what you were doing and you have been hiding from the truth – trying to convince yourself and those around you that you just couldn't help yourself.
"You were trusted with access to a cheque book but around a dozen times you used it to write cheques and steal money for your own benefit.
"You worked on the assumption that no one would dare to think you had done this."
Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Court-official-dock-stealing-40-000-buy/story-28925466-detail/story.html#ixzz44ZYKd1Uy
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