Co Down man who stole £30,000 from club while he was treasurer sentenced

Defendant started paying money back but stopped and was then reported to police

A 63-year old Co Down man who stole over £30,000 from the Belfast and District Motor Club whilst holding the position of treasurer avoided being sent to jail today (Thursday).

Roy Beattie was handed a 15-month sentence which was suspended for two years by Judge Gordon Kerr KC. From Cranfield Grange in Kircubbin, Beattie admitted stealing a total of £30,565 from the Club over a period spanning from January 2013 to December 31, 2018.

Belfast Crown Court heard that in 2018 the Belfast and District Motor Club – which is affiliated with the Motorcycle Union of Ireland and which promotes motorcycle races – uncovered the fraud.

Beattie, who at the relevant period held the position as the Club’s treasurer, had written around 30 cheques to himself from the Club’s funds. The Club had a chequebook, which was retained by Beattie, and during busy race days he would ask for a series of blank cheques to be counter-signed by one of the nominated signatories.

In June 2018, suspicions were raised when a cheque for an event in Kirkstown ‘bounced’ due to insufficient funds. Following an internal investigation, the Club calculated that a total of £30,565 has been stolen by Beattie.

At this point, members of the Club spoke to Beattie who admitted he had taken the money. An agreement was reached that he would re-pay the money via £200 monthly installments and the PSNI was not informed.

Beattie initially repaid a proportion of the debt – which amounted to around £3,750 – then stopped, which left an outstanding amount of £26,815. When the repayments ceased in January 2020, the Club compiled a report on the matter then subsequently contacted police.

Beattie was interviewed in February 2022 when he accepted he stopped making the repayments but claimed he intended to repay the outstanding amount when he was back in full time employment.

After Judge Kerr enquired about Beattie’s current financial position, a defence barrister said his client has not worked in over a decade.

The barrister also confirmed that Beattie was a carer for his wife, was on “relatively limited” benefits and that a compensation order would be “extremely difficult if not impossible” for him to pay.

Following this, Judge Kerr said there was “no way” Beattie was “financially capable of paying back the amount concerned” and was also in debt to credit card companies. The Judge also noted that whilst Beattie has a criminal record, there were no convictions for similar offences.

Citing Beattie’s offending over the six-year period as a breach of trust involving multiple transactions, the Judge said he accepted the defendant co-operated with the PSNI and has shown remorse for his actions.

Judge Kerr said he had also taken into account Beattie’s personal circumstances and the period of time that has lapsed since the offending. He handed Beattie a 15-month sentence, which he suspended for two years, and warned of the consequences of re-offending.

Judge Kerr did not grant a Crown application for a compensation order as he deemed that Beattie was not in a financial position to pay it.

Following this, the Judge told Beattie he was “free to go”.

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