The former clerk to Looe Harbour Commissioners, a position he had held for more than 20 years, appeared before Bodmin Magistrates on Friday, charged with theft, false accounting and failing to re-imburse the harbour board with money he had used to pay his private phone bill.
Fifty year old Adrian Charles Sargent of Hannafore Lane, West Looe, was released on unconditional bail after pleading guilty to all charges, and is set to appear before Liskeard Magistrates on May 3 for sentencing.
The members of the Harbour Board became suspicious of the clerk's activities last October when they were unable to work out the high amount he was spending on postage. The finances were investigated and he was subsequently confronted on December 21, resulting in his suspension. Disciplinary proceedings followed in the form of a tribunal and he was finally dismissed on January 15 and the police called.
Mr Julian Herbert for the prosecution said investigations had revealed there were no receipts for the postal account from January 1996, totalling more than £500, and that Sargent had not paid the money he owed for his private phone bill, the harbour office only agreeing to pay his line rental. He asked the magistrates to consider compensation for £756. It was discovered from an itemised phone bill that some of Sargent's unpaid phone calls had been made to chat and sex lines.
In defence Mr Jonathon Male said his client had been suffering from stress and had been visiting pubs on a regular basis. He said his income did not allow for this so he had begun to take money from the postage account on a frequent basis. He said he had intended to pay back the money owed for his phone bills but had not done so because of his financial circumstances.
Mr Male described Sargent as a man of previous good character and said, employment would not be something which would be easy to come by in the future.
He said his client was already being punished for his breach of trust, embarrassment and loss of employment.