A BUSINESSMAN who fraudulently took more than £50,000 from his controversial accident claims handling company as it was about to be wound up, has been jailed for 21 months.

Darren Bullough, who is said to have previously enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, living in a £2 million Cheshire mansion and driving a Lamborghini was told by Judge Timothy Stead that his behaviour was the latest incident in a pattern of dishonesty stretching back several years.

Bullough, aged 46, whose address is now listed as a more modest property in Central Drive, Bury, had denied committing fraud and failing to co-operate with the liquidator of his firm, Direct Assist Ltd, which had registered offices in Bolton and Bury, and was due to stand trial at Bolton Crown Court on Monday.

But, as his trial was due to start, he changed his plea to guilty, admitting fraudulently taking £50,697.94 from Direct Assist Ltd, which he spent on credit cards and distributed to his wife and others. He also admitted failing to provide company books and records to the liquidator.

Dressed in a grey suit and without a tie, Bullough stood looking emotionless in the dock as Judge Stead told him he could not agree to defending barrister, Jeremy Barnett’s request for a suspended prison sentence.

The court heard that Bullough has a history of dishonesty, with offences dating back to 1997, when he was jailed for 12 months for stealing £28,000 from a previous employer by false accounting.

Then, in 2004, he was convicted of obtaining property by deception through not paying bills.

Judge Stead told Bullough that he had a poor attitude to other people’s property and he has “no great faith” that he will learn a lesson from his convictions and change his behaviour.

In 2007 he set up Direct Assist Ltd, a personal injuries claims management company, with offices in Chorley New Road, Bolton.

Judge Stead said he would not comment on the lavish lifestyle Bullough was said to have enjoyed due to income from the firm.

“You must spend your money as you see fit, so long as it is yours to spend,” the judge told him.

But the company, got into difficulties in 2012 to 2013 when Corporation Tax went unpaid and, after June 2013, no VAT was paid.

“Clearly the company was in financial difficulties,” said Judge Stead.

The financial position was so bad that, on September 24, 2014, when the unpaid tax bill stood at £658,000, HMRC petitioned the court to wind up the company.

“From that point on the money you were laying your hands on was not yours to do with as you pleased,” said Judge Stead.

“Money was removed and dispersed which should have gone to HMRC.”

The day after the winding up petition Bullough, who was the company's sole director, started removing money from the firm.

Around £28,000 went to family members, £3,600 worth of cash was removed from the company’s bank account and £18,500 was spent on Direct Assist’s credit card.

The company bank account was frozen to stop any more funds being removed, as well as preventing creditors losing out further, and after Direct Assist formally entered into compulsory liquidation in March 2015. The failed company was £1.3 million in debt when it went bust.

An investigation was launched by the Insolvency Service but inquiries were made difficult as investigators could not find any evidence of company records from July 2013 onwards.

In addition to the jail sentence Bullough was banned from acting as the director of a company for seven years. It prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

Speaking after the sentencing, John Fitzsimmons, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: “Darren Bullough was well-known as someone who led an extravagant lifestyle, spending money on expensive property and fast cars. But he recklessly removed funds from his business knowing that Direct Assist was in financial difficulty.

“We welcome the court's substantial sentence and their recognition of the severity of Darren Bullough’s offences as not only was this money not his to do with as he pleased but by removing the funds, he denied payment that was rightfully owed to the company’s creditors.”

* In 2015 the Information Commissioner’s Office fined Direct Assist Ltd £80,000 for making nuisance calls, in one case phoning a single household 470 times.

More than 800 complaints were made about the company from people who were called despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service.

At the time of the fine ICO head of enforcement Steve Eckersley said: “Direct Assist’s behaviour showed a blatant disregard for the law and the customers they tried to contact.”