A Shrewsbury man whose company went bust after he faked cheques and invoices worth more than £14,600 has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Company director Ian Morris, 31, used the money to fund his cocaine and drink habit he claimed was caused by stress at work.

Morris, of York Road, Harlescott, was caught after fellow shareholders at his mobility equipment firm, Mobility Assistance Ltd, noticed anomalies in the company accounts.

The firm went under after Morris made cheques out to companies for services that hadn’t been given, including his own firm UK Import Solution Ltd. Shareholders lost more than £85,000.

He had previously admitted 11 counts of obtaining money by deception and asked for eight other charges to be taken into account when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Nicholas Mitchell sentenced him to nine months in jail for each of the 11 charges, to run concurrently, suspended for 18 months.

He gave him a supervision order for 12months, ordered him to complete 180 hours unpaid work and banned him from being directory of a company for five years.

He said Morris had seriously breached the trust of his fellow shareholders and had ruined the business.

Mr Stephen Bacon, prosecuting, said Morris had taken a total of £14,620.47.

He said: “Investors were significantly out of pocket as a result of his business failings and dishonesty. The major shareholder lost £65,000 and other shareholders lost £20,000.”

Miss Katie Jones, for Morris, said he was under a great degree of stress at the time and was depressed.

She said: “He had taken on a great degree of responsibility in the business. He had sales ability but was in a management role and was out of his depth.

“He took drastic measures to cope including cocaine, cannabis and drink. The majority of money was spent on his habit.”

Morris had started the firm in early 2006 and had 26 per cent of the shares.

A hearing will take place in the New Year to decide how much he must pay back.

By Steve Todd