Thieving bar manager leaves pub struggling
A pub owner has revealed how a thieving bar manager left his business in a perilous position.
Tom Helliwell, licensee of the Woodman in Highgate, North London, said the pub was left "sailing very close to the wind" after around £7,000 went missing from the till.
Manager Daniel Lynch has since been convicted of stealing half of that amount and narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
He was instead given an 18-month community order including 100-hours community service.
Helliwell said the thefts, which occurred over the Christmas period, left the pub that he took over in 2007, struggling for funds.
He said: "I am not a rich man and the pub needs regular re-investment. This is a suburban pub. Over Christmas people tended to drink in the city so it was a difficult period for us."
He added Lynch had actually fired other staff members for stealing.
"It's a very disappointing. He was always an affable person. You have to question whether the other people he fired for stealing were actually guilty. He worked for me for 18 months so how much of it was lies?"
Magistrates heard how Lynch, 27, stole the cash to fund a busy social life as he struggled to get over the death of his father.
The case again raises the issue of pubs being victims of crime.
In nearby Kentish Town two men were spared jail recently after carrying out a vicious attack on the manager of the George VI pub.
Daniel Horgan was left with permanent scars after attempting to stop thugs abusing his barstaff.
And police in Lincolnshire have warned licensees that a series of break-ins at pubs could be connected.
Thieves stole £200 and bottles of spirits from the Spinning Wheel in Baston and also targeted the Plough Inn in Spalding. In January The Publican revealed other pubs in the area had already been targeted.
• Has your pub been targeted by criminals? Email news@thepublican.com so we can raise the issue.
