A FORMER pizza delivery man conned Halton Council in an elaborate multi-million pound scam, a court has heard.

In less than 12 months, Stephen Atkinson, went from ferrying fast food to making fraudulent grant applications as a council Economic Development Officer.

He cost the council £350,000 after claiming he had backing for business projects in what the prosecution called an 'extraordinary story of deceit and double dealing.'

Atkinson, 45, of Combs in Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to four charges of false accounting and one charge of fraudulent trading at Warrington Crown Court this week. Two other charges were left to lie on the file.

Peter Moss, prosecuting, said Atkinson's adventures were 'expected in an episode of Dallas, not the kind of thing we would expect an official of Halton Council to be involved in'.

The court also heard that he ran up a £47,000 bill after convincing ICI to provide him with a credit card for expenses. This money was partly used to fund a 'jet-set' life-style, including skiing trips to Lausanne.

However, in a complicated scam, the bill was unknowingly being paid by Halton Council.

Projects

Mr Moss also told the court that Atkinson got Halton Council and private companies involved in a series of projects after convincing them he had secured backing from the EU.

However, this was untrue as Atkinson had simply ticked boxes on forms to say he had EU backing.

No one realised until the money was spent and Halton Council were left footing a £350,000 bill.

Mr Moss said Atkinson's attitude to one potential application was that of a 'pig in a pine forest who scented a truffle'.

Just before he was rumbled, Atkinson's final fraudulent grant application was for £1.5m to aid a £5m buy-out of part of ICI's site at The Heath.

He forged letters from the council's chief executive, Mike Cuff, to help the deal go through - though in Mr Moss's words, Mr Cuff had been 'nearer to a Yeti' than he had to the letter.

In police interviews, Atkinson admitted that he ultimately hoped to get a management job with the buy-out team.

Judge Nicholas Woodward said Atkinson's hopes of getting away with it were 'wholly unrealistic' and that no private company 'would have touched him with a barge pole'.

"It seems to me that Atkinson's motive was not financial gain," said Mr Justice Woodward.

"He no doubt was being treated with deference by important executives, and the word that keeps coming into my mind is 'prestige'."

He said it was a possibility that Atkinson was a 'Walter Mitty type of character'.

Atkinson got the council post in January 1999 - after his girlfriend wrote him a reference letter.

But the firm she claimed to represent had been set up the year before by Atkinson himself, and had never done any trading. He worked for the council until March 2000.

The 18-month police investigation into Atkinson was led by Det Insp Tim Tyler, of the Cheshire Fraud Squad.

Speaking after the trial, fraud squad officer Det Con Kevin O'Mahony, said: "Clearly there was a lot of dishonesty from Mr Atkinson and though there is the 'Walter Mitty' element, I think the bottom line was personal gain.

"We are glad Mr Atkinson pleaded guilty and saved the expense of a full trial but the people of Halton have suffered a loss of £350,000 and it will add up on everybody."

A Halton Council spokesperson, said: "The council remains tremendously disappointed by the actions of Mr Atkinson.

"But we are reassured that the case has served to demonstrate our zero tolerance to matters such as these and that we are not afraid to act quickly and positively to address them, irrespective of he outcome.

"A vigorous internal investigation which took place as soon as these circumstances came to light validated out systems and also helped us to further strengthen them.

"We contacted the police immediately and we are pleased that they have pursued this prosecution fully."

Atkinson will be sentenced next month.

Pictured: Stephen Atkinson outside Warrington Crown Court