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02
Oct
Former Harrogate pub manager admits £10,000 Greene King fraud
The former general manager of a Harrogate pub has admitted to defrauding the landlord out of more than £10,000.
Andrew Harrison today (October 2) pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position during a hearing at Harrogate Magistrates Court.
Alison Whiteley, defending, told the court Harrison was employed by pub group Greene King for 34 years – 13 of which were spent working at The Squinting Cat on Whinney Lane.
Harrison lived on site during his time as general manager.
When a financial anomaly was identified on Greene King’s accounting system, a member of staff was asked to investigate it.
When they did, they discovered £10,466 had “gone missing” between March 14, 2021, and November 14, 2023.
Harrison, who gave the court an address of Ripon Racecourse Marina, admitted to stealing the money to pay for “takeaways and fruit machines”, the court heard.
Ms Whiteley said, as general manager, Harrison was responsible for the pub’s finances, but added he claimed to be in a "bad mental place" at the time.
Harrison, who wore grey trousers and a red jumper in court, is of previous good character.
Job put defendant under ‘considerable pressure’
Sean Wilson, defending, told the court Harrison will “lose his good name” as a result of the offence.
He reiterated Harrison, now 56, had worked for Greene King for 34 years, but said “problems occurred” in 2018 after the company turned The Squinting Cat into a gastropub.
“This impacted clientele and reduced numbers, which put Mr Harrison under considerable pressure”, Mr Wilson said.
The move led Harrison to suffer with anxiety and depression, and he started to feel as though he “could not make any mistakes” in his role.
Harrison admitted making fraudulent transactions and “covering them up” to both the auditor and the police, the court heard.
But Mr Wilson told the magistrates Harrison has significant health problems, including stage three heart failure.
His heart only has 23% functionality, Mr Wilson said, adding the defendant takes a “cocktail of medications” for his health problems.
The defence added:
He also had kidney problems before he started taking his medication. The damage done was through alcohol use during time spent working in the pub industry.
Mr Harrison also suffered from anxiety and depression at times when working for Greene King, but those have improved as he no longer works for the company.
The magistrates adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Harrison will return to Harrogate Magistrates Court on November 21.
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