Bank welcomes worker's jail term

Bank bosses have welcomed a 12 month prison sentence imposed on a Shropshire man who "abused" his position of trust and stole more than £40,000.

Alan David Christopher Hulse, a customer assistant and personal banker with Lloyds TSB in Newport, stole cash when filling up an ATM machine and covered his tracks by transferring money from two elderly customers' accounts.

It happened over a period of 18 months, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday.

Amy Mankelow, spokeswoman for Lloyds TSB, said today convictions such as Hulse's sent a "powerful message" to fraudsters and reassured customers of the company's commitment to tackling financial crime.

She said: "We treat all types of fraud extremely seriously and it's of particular concern where a member of staff has abused their position of trust.

Detection

"We have well established fraud detection systems and as soon as we identified this suspicious activity, we reported it to the police.

"By working closely with them and providing evidence gathered by the bank, we played an important role in the successful prosecution of Mr Hulse."

She continued: "Convictions such as this send a powerful message to fraudsters wherever they operate and help reassure customers of our commitment to tackling financial crime.

"In this case we refunded the affected customers straightaway and are very sorry for the undoubted distress this has caused them."

Hulse, 37, of Butts Road, Market Drayton, had admitted stealing £40,500 from Lloyds TSB Newport branch between December 2005 and July 2007 and two offences of fraud.

The fraud involved using his position at the bank to transfer £12,000 from Sheila Bentley's account on May 4, 2007 and £25,000 from Kathleen White's account on July 20, 2007.

Mr Delroy Henry, prosecuting, said that Hulse had been employed by the bank since 1991, mostly working at the Newport branch where one of his duties was the filling up of the cash machine.

He had stolen money from the cash machine and put back money into that account by transferring money from the accounts of Mrs White, an 85-year-old widow, and Mrs Bentley.

Mr Matthew Dunford, for Hulse, said he was married with one child and of previous good character.

He said he was not in a senior position at the bank and only earned £13,000 a year.

By Deborah Collins