Burton Latimer engineer spared from prison after "staggering" fuel fraud

A service engineer from Burton Latimer who fraudulently spent more than £12,000 on a company fuel card has been spared from prison.

Carl Freeman, 37, was working for Lawrence David Ltd in September 2018 when the firm brought in new measures to review operating costs.

As part of the review, company managers assessed the fuel consumption of each employee with a company-issued fuel card.

And Freeman’s fuel bill immediately caught the attention of management, as his expenditure far exceeded that recorded by colleagues in similar roles.

He was issued a new vehicle and his fuel card was monitored over a three-month period, revealing Freeman’s fuel consumption was double the usual spend.

The company launched an investigation and contacted a fuel station, who confirmed Freeman was filling up more than just his company van.

He was also found to be filling multiple fuel bowsers in the back of his van, for which the company had unwittingly footed the bill.

Freeman, of Twywell Way, admitted fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, yesterday (Monday) at Peterborough Crown Court.

PC Jason Waite said: “The scale of Freeman’s deception was staggering, as he clearly gave no thought to the consequences of his actions.

“I hope he takes this sentence as a prompt wake-up call and will think twice before considering fraud in future.”