Jailed parish councillor ordered to repay six-figure sum (From Romsey Advertiser)

Jailed parish councillor ordered to repay six-figure sum

2:26pm Friday 3rd August 2012 in Winchester By Andrew Napier

A former parish councillor near Alresford who carried out a massive fraud against his employers and spent £35,000 pounds on guns alone, has been ordered to repay nearly £115,000.

Christopher Norkett, who sat on councils at Cheriton and Tichborne, near Alresford, fraudulently ordered hundreds of mobile phones and intercepted the shipments at a Royal Mail sorting office before selling them privately.
The former senior manager for telecoms giant Cable & Wireless was believed to have profited by £417,000.

Now a judge has granted prosecutors permission to seize his assets, including 14 hunting rifles and shotguns.

Norkett, formerly of Raeburn Close, Cheriton, was jailed for two years and eight months earlier this year after admitting nine counts of fraud.
If he fails to pay the amount ordered by the judge within six months, he faces a further two years being added to his sentence.

When Norkett was sentenced Judge Ian Grainger told him: “The greed is breathtaking. These were disgraceful offences carried out over a long period of time.”

Norkett, 44, had such a big budget at communications firm Cable and Wireless he was able to order hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of mobile phones without triggering any alerts.

Norkett was brought back before reading Crown Court for an application by the prosecution under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Abigail Husbands, prosecuting, said: “The application is for a confiscation order in the sum of £114,960.30. That is an agreed figure from the realisable assets.”

She added: “There are £2,000 owed in cash, held by the police and about £35,000 held in assets by the police. That’s the guns. The only asset the defendant will have to find is £2,576 pounds.”

Christopher Bauer, defending, asked the judge to acknowledge that the guns “may fetch more, may fetch less” than £35,000 pounds when they go to auction.

Judge Grainger granted the application under the agreed sums.

He said: “That sum is to be paid as compensation to Cable & Wireless Worldwide. I allow six months time to pay and the period of imprisonment in default of payment will be two years.”