A BOLTON man conned the company he had worked for since leaving university out of a staggering £6.7m because he wanted financial security from his family.

James Hall worked for Vale UK, a shopfitting company which works with major retailers like the Co-Op, as a financial controller, earning £81,000 per year.

But Bolton Crown Court heard between 2012 and 2015 he helped himself to £6.7m from the firm’s reserves.

In 2012 he asked to borrow £250,000 from this fund to do work on his own house to allow him to sell it. But from then on, the 49-year-old began to take more and more. In 2015 irregularities were identified and he was confronted.

He told bosses at the Merseyside company he had been betting on the Stock Exchange because he wanted “security for his wife and children”.

The company was forced to spend £50,000 taking action to clear up the damage done by Hall.

Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, said company director Peter Henerty trusted Hall like a brother.

She said: “He couldn’t believe the defendant acted in the way he did, he was a trusted employee.”

Hall, of Eastgrove Avenue, Bolton, admitted to four counts of fraud from the company, amounting to £6.7m.

Andrew Nuttall, defending, said his client was suffering from gambling addiction but had not overly tried to hide what he was doing.

He said Hall invested the money in the FTSE 100 and while his main aim was financial security for himself he thought the company would benefit.

“He seems to have thought himself rather like Prof Pangloss in Voltaire’s Candid, everything will turn out for the best.That was his thinking, but it hasn’t and he must pay the piper.”

He added Hall was shocked to have found himself dismissed from the company as a result.

The defendant was suffering from gambling addiction, added Mr Nuttall.

Jailing him for six years, Judge Tom Gilbart told Hall: “Until you decided to involve yourself in this you were a man of impeccable character, a history of good work, a family and a good standard of living and you had a good circle of friends, you had a job that rewarded your intelligence. This was extremely serious criminality, you were given a position of trust by this company.”

Later Det Con Claire Taylor said: “This fraud placed a family-run business under significant financial pressure, causing distress and worry to all employees and their loved ones.

“That such an impact would be caused was clearly lost on Hall, and he will now be left to consider the full consequences of his actions while he serves his jail time.

“We welcome that, following an extensive and complex police investigation, Hall is now behind bars."