A BUSINESSMAN has said his life has been destroyed by a former colleague who almost drove a luxury travel company to the wall due to his gambling debts.

Steven White claims he was left with £90,000 worth of debt by the actions of Glyn Adams – the man who was paid to oversee the finances of DTV Executive Travel.

Durham Crown Court heard that the chauffeur company, based in Middlesbrough and Darlington, ceased trading in late 2010, causing several employees to lose their jobs and leaving the joint directors thousands of pounds out of pocket.

The spotlight fell on Adams following scrutiny of the defunct company’s books, amid inquiries into its affairs by HM Revenue and Customs.

Adams was said to have taken £26,343, between January and December 2009.

The 53-year-old, now living in Wivenhoe, Essex, denied a charge of theft, but was convicted following a trial at Teesside Crown Court last month.

Speaking to The Northern Echo following the conclusion of the case, Mr White says the results of Adams’ dishonesty turned his life upside down.

“It affected me and it affected my marriage,” he said.

“My sleeping habits were affected, my eating habits were affected, and it ruined my daughter’s wedding – which was supposed to be a real celebration.

Adams received an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with 100-hours’ unpaid work.

Adams must also pay £1,200 compensation to each of the two former directors over the coming year in monthly instalments.

Mr White, who now runs his own decorating company, said he first got suspicions of Adams’ wrong doing when he started to receive phone calls from the bank.

He also described the sentence as “diabolical” and “beyond lenient”

“If I knew then what I knew now, I wouldn’t touch him with a barge poll.

“If you have got something good in your life, he would go and do something to wreck it.

Adams’ counsel, Helen Chapman, told the Durham sentencing hearing, it was, “opportunistic and not particularly sophisticated” offending.

“He had the opportunity, with internet banking, and, in part, because this business was in disarray, to simply take advantage of it, transferring sums of money to himself.”

Recorder Euan Duff said the offending, “clearly crosses the custody threshold”, but the only way he could ensure Adams pays some money back is by passing a suspended sentence to enable him to keep earning an income.

“This offending came about because you were in financial difficulties at the time and you tried to resolve that by resorting to gambling, but only ended up getting yourself in more and more difficulties, so you tried to solve that by stealing from the company.”