This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7693006.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Two years for PSNI overtime fraud Police cancer conman faces jail
(about 7 hours later)
A police photographer who fraudulently claimed almost £200,000 in overtime, income tax and VAT has been jailed for two years. A police photographer who swindled almost £200,000 in overtime, income tax and VAT after falsely claiming he had cancer has been jailed for two years.
Forty-year-old Fergus Dixon Grant, from Orangefield Avenue in Belfast, admitted making false overtime claims for more than £100,000.Forty-year-old Fergus Dixon Grant, from Orangefield Avenue in Belfast, admitted making false overtime claims for more than £100,000.
He also created a false photography business which he claimed ran at a loss to get tax and VAT rebates. He also created a false photography business, which he claimed ran at a loss to get tax and VAT rebates.
The judge said it was a "very serious case of breach of trust".The judge said it was a "very serious case of breach of trust".
Belfast Crown Court heard Grant was put on flexible working hours after lying to colleagues that he was suffering from testicular cancer.
Grant pleaded guilty to eight counts of false accounting relating to overtime claims, income tax and VAT fraud, one of possessing articles for use in fraud, two of making or adapting documents for use in fraud and one of making DVD film copies in breach of copyright between October 2002 and March last year.
He has effectively lost everything: his job, his home, his good reputation and his wife Paul RamseyDefence barrister The court heard that Grant created a bogus photography business which he claimed ran at a loss to get tax and VAT rebates totalling £66,650.
He borrowed a PSNI computer tower to copy 1,449 mainstream and pornographic counterfeit DVDs uncovered at his home, the court was told.
It also heard that numerous false overtime claim forms were submitted to the PSNI central pay branch for which he was paid £119,832 over and above his salary.
Prosecution lawyer Amanda Brady told the court: "This was a sophisticated operation with a large degree of planning... there is a broad spectrum of offending... and added to that is that he pretended to have cancer to gain the freedom of movement within the work place that facilitated his offending."
Defence QC Paul Ramsey said Grant was "deeply ashamed" about the cancer claim.
He said he began swindling the money while "in the grip" of a gambling addiction, adding that his home had since been repossessed by the bank.
"He has effectively lost everything: his job, his home, his good reputation and his wife," he said.
Jailing Grant, Judge Philip Babington said it was a "very serious case of breach of trust by someone in a responsible position in an organisation dedicated to detecting crime".
The judge said the offending was made worse by the false cancer claim because he took advantage of allowances made for him and because the frauds were "plainly" planned out.