Security guard stole £200,000 from NHS car park pay machines

A security guard and his wife masterminded a £200,000 theft racket at a hospital in which he and colleagues plundered enough NHS cash to pay the salaries of six full-time nurses for a year.

Peter O'Garro, 52, looted car parking pay stations he was assigned to guard. He and his wife Karen, a hospice nurse, then used the stolen fees to buy a quad bike, jewellery and high-value electrical goods.

Over a seven-month period, O'Garro and three workmates from a private security firm hired by bosses at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester stole up to £39,000 a month from the machines. Two of the gang also got their partners to look after the proceeds.

The scam was exposed after Manchester University PhD student Firas Armosh got a temporary job helping the team to empty the paystations at the hospital in order to fund his studies and turned whistleblower when his contract finished.

The student later told police how O'Garro had said to him: "this is for all of us - ten weeks for us, one week for you' whilst a colleague added: 'if you join us, don't get greedy".

Officers arrested O'Garro and two of his colleagues at a security lodge at the hospital. They also raided their homes and found large quantities of coins stored in suitcases and large bottles.

O'Garro and his 48-year old wife who have children and grandchildren were found to have a total of £4,821.34 inside two red tool boxes under a TV stand in their living room.

Inquiries revealed he had stolen £43,681.82 with £1,168.82 being recovered from a drawstring bag in his Mini Cooper car - whilst Mrs O'Garro deposited £15,996.45 into four bank accounts in her name.

In all, £207,412 in cash was stolen by O'Garro and his gang from car park machines at Wythenshawe Hospital.

In a statement Nick Smith, manager at the hospital said: "This money could have been used to fund six qualified nurses for a full year or the purchase of major medical equipment or life-saving drugs.

"This crime is ultimately taking money from the NHS, but it should also be pointed out that the theft is of money charged to members of the public, both patients and visitors, using the hospital."

At Manchester Crown Court, O'Garro, from Middleton admitted theft and was jailed for three years whilst his wife admitted possession of criminal property and was given eight months jail suspended for two years.

Supervisor Stephen Seddon, 31, of Failsworth, near Oldham was jailed for 30 months, Christopher Hughes, 53, from Wythenshawe, received 27 months and Shahid Nadeem, 39, of Cheetham Hill was locked up for two years. Seddon's wife Elizabeth, 32 was given eight months jail suspended for two years while Hughes' partner Marie McGovern, 51, was given a two year community order.

Judge Hilary Manley said: "Large sums of money were taken from pay station machines and never brought to the cashiers. That money, over £200,000, was not stolen from some faceless company but from an NHS Trust.

"As said, it could have been used to fund six qualified nurses' salaries for a year or provided vital equipment. Your selfish actions came at a time when it is common knowledge that the NHS is struggling. To steal from it, many would say, is an unforgiveable crime."

The court heard the scam took place between July 2015 and February 2016 after former Virgin Media engineer O'Garro was hired by Belfast-based Noonan Services Group to help empty parking pay station machines at the hospital. Initially the gang carried out a test run by stealing £1,743 from one paystation then waited four weeks before plundering up to ten others on a monthly basis.

The job of operating the car parks at the hospital run internally at the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Trust, but the collection of the cash is contracted out to a private security firm. The hospital itself reportedly made £2m from car parking charges in 2015.