Adrian Joseph Goodwin gave in to the lure of his local TAB after two painful events in his life – the death of his mother and the breakdown of his marriage.
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Emotionally lost and seeking solace, it wasn’t long before gambling for distraction turned into gambling to feed an addiction, and his life began to revolve around how to fund his next bet.
In the meantime, Goodwin had been working for Albion Park Rail business The Tile and Bathroom Supermart since February 2014, receiving a promotion seven months into the job, and with increased responsibility came increased access to the company’s coffers.
It wasn’t long before the 30-year-old father-of-two made an opportunistic decision that would ultimately cost him dearly.
In late January he transferred $199 of company money into his own bank account via the business’ eftpos machine, under the pretense of carrying out a refund for a returned item.
When no one noticed the discrepancy, Goodwin continued the scheme, carrying out 30 transactions in the next six months, each increasing in value.
By the time he made the last transfer on July 22, Goodwin had transferred a total of $23,291 from his employer.
Police documents did not reveal whether the fraud came to an end as a result of it being discovered by Goodwin’s superiors, or whether he simply stopped making the transfers.
Goodwin was interviewed by police in January this year and charged with stealing property as a clerk, to which he later pleaded guilty.
In Port Kembla Local Court on Wednesday, defence lawyer Aaron Kernaghan said his client was currently working in a St George Bank call centre ( not involving money transactions) but stood to lose his job if convicted.
He asked Magistrate Susan McGowan to consider imposing a suspended prison sentence, noting Goodwin’s offending had been opportunistic and unsophisticated, to the point that it was ‘‘inevitable that he would be caught’’.
However, Magistrate McGowan refused the request, instead sentencing Goodwin to 12 months’ jail with a non-parole period of five months.
He was also ordered to repay the outstanding money.
Goodwin was taken into custody, however, immediately lodged an appeal against the sentence.
He was released on bail pending the appeal hearing in the District Court in August.
