A fraudster who "looted" stock from his own companies was today beginning a two-and-a-half year jail sentence.

Fancy goods merchant, Paul Westwood, 34, made sure there were no assets left for creditors to seize when his companies went into liquidation.

Westwood of Ennismore Gardens, Southend, pleaded guilty at Basildon Crown Court to two charges of fraudulent trading and two others of acting as a company director while disqualified.

He had previously pleaded not guilty to all four charges but decided to change his plea in January.

Westwood traded from Leigh Discount, the Broadway, Leigh, and A and J Fancy Goods, Bridgewater Drive, Westcliff.

An invoice from 1994 stated that £12,000 of stock had been sold from his company Expectsave to another called Servemore, which Westwood was also involved in running.

An examination of the books however found no entry in Servmore's account and in December, the figure appeared as a bad debt.

Police seized goods as a result of this in April 1997.

Westwood became a director of PMJ in July 1994 until it went into voluntary liquidation in January 1996 with debts of £375,000 .

Stock was again "looted" to another company Westwood was involved in the running of. Goods worth £39,190 were sold to Servemore for less than £8,000.

His business crimes did not reap a lavish lifestyle for his family however, Basildon Crown Court was told.

His ex-wife Joanne who he separated from in April, 1995, told the court they only went on holiday abroad twice, to the Canary Islands, in the five years they were married.

For the first four years of marriage, the couple who have an eight-year-old daughter, had a van as their family car.

This was followed by a six-year-old Sierra and the couple had a house in Scratton Road, Southend, which was sold for £72,000 following the separation.

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