Leeds Holiday Inn manager stole £68,000 in swimming-pool swindle
A devious manager at a Leeds hotel stole more than £68,000 after hiring out the complex’s swimming pool and attaching his own bank account details to invoices.
Jamie Mulgrew charged a swimming club for use of the facilities at the Holiday Inn in Garforth over a four-year period.
The 37-year-old, who was the leisure centre manager at the Wakefield Road hotel, avoided jail at Leeds Crown Court after admitting theft from employee.
The court heard that Mulgrew had worked at the site for eight years but resigned in April 2024 due to an unrelated incident, prosecutor Louise Pryke said.
The woman who regularly hired the pool later contacted the Holiday Inn to ask whom she would be dealing with in future, with Mulgrew gone.
It was then found that the father-of-three had been taking payments of £30 per hour from the customer, starting in March 2020.
This went on until April 2024, when he had already increased the charge to £40 an hour and had requested the woman set up a standing order to pay £2,600 a month.
Overall, he received £68,710. He later gave a no-comment interview to police.
Mulgrew, of St John’s Close, Rishworth, Sowerby Bridge, has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Safaraz Ahad said Mulgrew indicated an early guilty plea and was “extremely remorseful”.
He said he had racked up debts buying everyday items, and was not driving a “flash” car.
The judge, Recorder Tom Little KC gave Mulgrew a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He gave him 30 rehabilitation days to complete with probation, along with 100 hours of unpaid work.