Tailor, 32, stole £55,000 from outfitter which dresses Rio Ferdinand

Tailor, 32, stole £55,000 from menswear outfitter which dresses Rio Ferdinand by siphoning off customer payments into his own back account so he could fund secret cocaine addiction

• Josh Barnes, 32, worked at Frank Rostron Bespoke Shirtmakers in Manchester
• He rattled up a large debt after becoming addicted to cocaine and cannabis 
• Barnes pocketed money by giving clients his bank details when they rang to pay 
• Firm’s clients include football pundit Rio Ferdinand and Andy Burnham
• The fraudster was spared prison at Manchester Crown Court on Monday

A tailor who stole more than £55,000 from a prestigious menswear outfitter which dresses Rio Ferdinand by siphoning off customer payments into his own bank account so he could fund a secret cocaine addiction.

Joshe Barnes, 32, pocketed the cash over a three-year period by giving his details to 80 customers when they rang to settle their bills.

He got the job at Manchester-based Frank Rostron Bespoke Shirtmakers through his businessman father, but outside of work got into the ‘wrong peer group’ and became hooked on cocaine and cannabis before rattling up debts.

Inquiries revealed £55,459 had gone missing during between September 2016 and December 2019. 

Barnes was caught when a client of the £1million a year firm raised a query with its boss Adam Dooley regarding the bank details he was given to pay into.

He was spared jail after admitting fraud by false representation at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.

Barnes was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to undertake 180 hours of unpaid work. He will also face a Proceeds of Crime hearing at a later date.

The court heard he began his role at the company in 2013 at the age of 23.

Joshe Barnes (pictured outside Manchester Crown Court) pocketed the cash between September 2016 and December 2019 by giving his own bank details to 80 customers when they rang to pay for the firm’s services

Barnes began offending after racking up debts because of an addiction to cocaine and cannabis

David Farley, prosecuting, told the court that Barnes had responsibility for managing and processing customer orders, which included putting their details and measurements into firm’s system.

He added: ‘Customers usually only do that once and then in the future they can purchase a new shirt or suit online without having to come for new measurements.

‘The customers paid via a SAGE system. But when the defendant operated outside these guidelines, he would phone up customers and say the SAGE system was not working and ask the customers to direct their money into his bank account.

‘In December 2019, a customer rang up to query the bank details which he had been asked to pay to. He spoke to Adam Dooley who recognised these bank details as being those of this defendant who was then sacked.

‘Over this period of time customers got their shirts but it was Frank Rostron Tailors as a company which did not get their money. It was always bound to be discovered at some point. This was a breach of trust.’

Barnes had a previous conviction for theft in 2011, for which he was given an 18-month conditional discharge.

Peter Gilmour, representing Barnes, said in mitigation that the offending ‘was driven by an addiction at that time cocaine and cannabis’.

He told the court that Barnes is now ‘abstinent from both of those and he has no debt’.

Mr Gilmour added: ‘He has turned himself away from that peer group and there has been no further offending since. He is genuinely remorseful and the relationship between his father and his employer has now been ruined.

‘But he has a supportive family and has been offered a job working with his father in a new business selling coffee.’

The Frank Rostron store, which has since rebranded as Dooley & Rostron, based in Manchester

Passing sentence, Judge Timothy Smith said Barnes had ‘clearly breached’ a position of trust.

He added: ‘The shirts, suits and ties were received by the customer but the true person losing out was Frank Rostron. The money ought to have been paid to him for the value of the purchase price. There is manufacturing costs too and you siphoned off the proceeds to yourself.

‘You were in a position of trust and you clearly breached that trust. You were in a high position of trust. This was a theft from your employer. There was clearly some planning but it was not sophisticated in nature.’ 

Barnes was spared an immediate custodial sentence because he has kicked his drug habit.

Last year the firm, which began trading in 1966, rebranded as Dooley & Rostron and relocated to a brand new store.

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