Criminal dad lied about having a heart attack and his girlfriend dying in web of deceit

A fraudster described as 'deeply dishonest' who lied about his girlfriend dying and having a heart attack before stealing nearly £30,000 from his bosses has been jailed.

Dad, Dean McCarthy, 32, was sentenced after exploiting his role as an account manager.

He had four client firms on his books as part of his role with Runcorn fire safety firm Abbey Fire, where he was taken on in July 2020.

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But Paulinus Barnes, prosecuting at Chester Crown Court , said McCarthy’s deceit began even before he started work, having initially responded to a job advert in early 2020, only to then lie to the company and say his “girlfriend had died suddenly”.

When he did begin work, he claimed his car was stolen, and as a result he was given the use of a company car, fitted with a tracker to monitor its use, reports The Echo.

On November 26, 2020, he contacted company finance director Peter Robinson and claimed he “had been in hospital all night with a suspected mild heart attack”.

Company boss Paul Jones could see from the tracker the company car was on the move that morning, and when he went to McCarthy’s house he was greeted by his absent employee, who apologised for lying about the heart attack and said he was being “terrorised” by a man over his car.

The situation spiralled as the company finance team discovered “anomalies” relating to items billed as having been hired by McCarthy but which the firm “didn’t use or need” and which were not returned, to the tune of around £2,000.

When asked about it, McCarthy admitted being responsible, but told his bosses the last car he bought turned out to have been stolen and he had given the seller’s details to the police.

He claimed the seller was now “blackmailing him and telling him to