A FRAUDSTER who funnelled almost £7,500 from Northumbrian Water into his own bank account after changing customer bank details has narrowly avoided jail.

Benjamin Williams, 27, worked as a customer accounts manager for the water services company for around 18 months before he began stealing money to fund a gambling addiction.

Peterlee Magistrates’ Court heard that he changed the bank account details of 23 Northumbrian Water customers to those of his own, before sending himself ‘refunds’ of up to £250 .

Laura Johnson, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was employed by an agency used by Northumbrian Water, he had previously worked for the company on two other occasions without any issues, there was no reason to suspect otherwise.

“On January 22 a customer contacted Northumbrian Water to query why their bank account details had been changed because she did not request that.

“The computer systems used by Northumbrian Water show which members of staff have accessed customer accounts and any changes made.

“It was found that Mr Williams changed the bank account details on January 15, however no notes were made on the account to explain why the amendment was made.

“Further enquiries revealed that Mr Williams added the same bank account details to a further 22 accounts and refunds were sent to each of the accounts, each up to £250, which was the limit workers are able to issue without management approval.

“The new bank account details were found to have never belonged to a Northumbrian Water customer, and the customer details were all changed by Mr Williams, either after he had finished his shift or when he was on paternity leave and shouldn’t have been in the building.”

The court heard that between January 3 and January 15 this year Williams transferred £7,366.15 into his own bank account.

He pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by abuse of position.

Stephen Hamill, mitigating, said his client has a severe gambling addiction and was stealing the money to gamble with it online.

He added: “It happened over an acute period of time, a little over ten days, with no prospect of success for this young man. You've heard he was outed pretty quickly following the customer query.

"Gambling addictions are just as serious as drug or alcohol addictions, this man has lost his family, his job, his life over this. It's not an exaggeration to say that this is an illness.

"It speaks volumes when a man with no previous convictions comes to court for an offence as serious as this.

"He has succumbed to addiction and now he is doing everything he can to overcome it.

"He did not take the money from customers, he took it straight from Northumbrian Water. It's fair to say they are a multi-million pound company and it's all but a drop in the ocean for them."

Williams, of Alnwick Drive, Spennymoor, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and must pay £7,366.15 back to Northumbrian Water.