An army veteran was left suicidal after he invested £40,000 in a pal’s supposed property development company, only to find that his cash had gone.
Billy Williams lied about buying a house, after promising he would renovate and share the profits with his pal, in return for the investment. But Williams, 51, paid himself the money in “wages” and used a further £18,000 of his investor’s cash on “living expenses.”
The victim was left suicidal when he realised the money his mum had left him in her will, was gone. Vincent Cruickshank tried to take his own life, when he realised that all of his disposable income had been spent by Williams.
In a statement, victim Vincent Cruickshank, who died in a fall last November, previously said: “I am now left empty-handed with nothing to show. I am very suicidal. I’m struggling to see how I might survive without the money.”
Although Williams admitted the fraud and said he wanted to repay Mr Cruickshank, he failed to raise the funds to do that before Mr Cruickshank passed away.
Teesside Crown Court heard Williams persuaded his friend to invest his inheritance into his company Graphene Property Solutions Ltd. He said he would buy a house and renovate it, before selling it. Mr Cruickshank transferred £40,000 and he left Williams his bank card, to pay for any materials that the renovation needed.
The court heard that Mr Cruickshank trusted his friend implicitly, and he left the country to spend eight months in Thailand. But on his return in May 2022, he discovered that Williams hadn’t bought a house, and that his money was gone. Williams had withdrawn £18,793 from Mr Cruickshank’s Barclays account – in 152 transactions.
The £40,000 had gone – it later transpired that Williams had spent £11,000 of it paying off a debt to someone else, and almost £30,000 had been transferred by Williams into his own bank account, under the reference “wages.” But Stephen Littlewood, prosecuting, said there was no evidence to show any work had been done.
“No property had been bought,” Mr Littlewood said. He added that Williams “recognised Mr Cruickshank was vulnerable. He had previously suffered a stroke which affected his speech, and he had a limited support network.”
Williams admitted two counts of fraud, which he carried out between September 2021 and May 2022, at an earlier hearing.
In mitigation, Elisha Marsay said: “It fills Mr Williams with deep regret that he did this to his friend. It is exasperated by Mr Cruickshank’s recent passing. He wants to repay the money he owes to Mr Cruickshank’s estate. He has a job offer to start next week – which is a step in the right direction.”
Ms Marsay said that her client “is terrified and has real concerns about how he would cope” with prison.
Judge Edward Legard told Williams: “Rather than invest £40,000 into property renovation, you spent a large part of it on your lifestyle. No property has ever been bought. You made £18,793 of transactions on Mr Cruickshank’s bank card. What you did is unconscionable. You took advantage of someone who considered you a friend. There was never any intention of purchasing a property.
“I’ve thought long and hard about this – do I sentence you to a term of imprisonment? It is what I have no doubt the late Mr Cruickshank, his family and his friends would expect. I have decided, with a degree of reluctance, to follow the probation service’s recommendations.
“Society would be better served by you performing unpaid work and attending rehabilitative programmes – than a relatively short period of custody.”
Williams, of Stirling Way in Thornaby, was handed a two-year prison term, suspended for two-years. He must attend 30 rehabilitation days; carry out 200 hours of unpaid work; and attend a mental health programme. The judge approved a proceeds of crime application, to recover the money.
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