Bloke Gets Paid £44,000 By Accident, Splashes Out On Drugs And Gambling

I don't know about you, but if I randomly landed £44,000 in the bank, I probably wouldn't be dead-set on returning it straight away.

I'd maybe spend a bit of it, knowing that I could reimburse what I'd taken.

But one man in Scarborough treated the cash as NBD and blew the majority of it on cocaine, gambling, jewellery and vodka.

Steven Burke, 43, was sent the money after a company director at a construction firm he worked for had made a typo.

Image: Getty

Prosecutor Katy Varlow said: "He spent the money on a car, an electronic-cigarette, hotel rooms, designer clothes, a gold chain, cocaine and vodka as well as online gambling. In total, he spent more than £28,000 and approximately £15,000 was recovered."

Burke has since pleaded guilty to receiving wrongful credit and will be sentenced on July 25.

Moral of the story: don't do what Steven did. It sounds like, and probably was, an absolute riot of a time while it lasted. However, under the 1968 Theft Act, people who fail to return money sent in error could land themselves with up to 10 years in prison. So, you're better off leaving it.

Words by Josh Teal

Topics: Money

Josh Teal

Josh Teal is a journalist at LADbible. He has contributed to the 'Knowing Me, Knowing EU' and 'UOKM8?' campaigns interviewing everyone from student drug dealers to climate change activists.

@tealioni