Gambler stole £222,000

Guilty...Ellison.

The manager of a Rochdale doctors’ surgery stole £222,000 to fund his gambling addiction.

The six GPs at the Wellfield Surgery on Oldham Road found out about Stuart Ellison’s thefts when bailiffs threatened to take away computer equipment.

Ellison, 47, of Shaw, was in sole charge of finances at the surgery.

It was discovered Ellison made 191 separate transactions between November 2006 and January last year.

Jailing him for two-and-a-half years at Bolton Crown Court, Judge Guy Mathieson told Ellison he had abused the trust placed in him.

Police found the money had first been put into Ellison’s own bank account and then that of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Whelan, who worked as a receptionist at the surgery. She was unaware of the transactions and no action was taken against her.

Ellison was arrested and records showed the cash was spent on gambling websites.

The court was told Ellison had accounts with a number of online bookmakers.

While he had taken £222,000 from the doctor’s surgery, he had only repaid about £6,000.

Duncan Wilcock, prosecuting, said stress had caused Ellison to turn to gambling online.

The court heard Ellison had a previous conviction for benefit fraud in 1993.

Joe Boyd, defending Ellison, said the thefts had not impacted on the treatment of patients or resulted in any loss of jobs at the surgery but may have eaten into the profits of the doctors working there.

Mr Boyd said: “The bets were in small amounts. They got closer together in time and larger and by November 2007 they were beginning to get bigger and bigger.

“From then on he was simply chasing the hare as all gambling addicts do. They lose so much that they have to put more on in order to recoup their losses.”

The practice refused to comment.