Alcoholic spared jail for trying to steal nearly £350,000 from his employers

A serial thief who was warned he will die if he does not stop drinking has been spared a jail sentence for trying to steal nearly £350,000 from his employers.

Benjamin Ferrar, 48, received a suspended two-year prison sentence and was placed on an alcohol treatment programme by a judge.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Ferrar had been an alcoholic since leaving university and was currently drinking 300 units per week – the equivalent of four bottles of wine a day.

His drinking was so heavy that he was now suffering from epileptic seizures, which could prove fatal.

The court heard that in September 2024 Ferrar attempted to steal £330,000, after being suspended eight days previously from his job at Bensons for Beds outlet in Cwmbran.

He returned to the retailer at night and let himself in with a key before making a series of electronic transfers.

Most of the transactions were declined by banks, and he only managed to steal £13,889 from the firm, the court was told.

Ferrar was caught red-handed by police after he went back to Bensons for Beds for a third time and tried to burgle the store.

Those thefts happened after he had stolen nearly £11,000 in September 2022 while working as a night porter at the luxury Carlyon Bay Hotel in St Austell, Cornwall.

At a previous hearing, Ferrar, of Nightingale Close, Plymouth, Devon, pleaded guilty to three charges of theft and four of burglary.

Owen Williams, defending, said Ferrar had committed a “very serious set of offences, multiple offences, and high-value thefts”.

“That, there can be no doubt, clearly would lead to the sentencing tribunal immediately thinking that the only form of sentence that would be appropriate would be that of immediate custody,” he said.

“When one considers the background of Mr Ferrar, what is going on in his life presently, and the possibility of rehabilitation with direct intervention in relation to his alcoholism, there is a good prospect of rehabilitation.

“It’s only upon that factor that the court could possibly take, I accept, an exceptional course of action.”

‘Defy belief’

Imposing a two-year suspended prison sentence, Recorder Mark Powell KC said: “Frankly, the facts almost defy belief.

“The only explanation is provided in the pre-sentence report, which is that since you were at university you have been what is best described as a high-functioning alcoholic.

“What is remarkable is that you are here to stand for your sentence. What is remarkable is the fact you have not died.

“As a result of the drink that you are taking, you are suffering with epileptic seizures.

“Perhaps the most chilling thing that I’ve read is that if you carry on drinking, the mortality rate for alcohol at the level you are taking is very high.

“You are suffering from seizures, and they have to be properly managed, otherwise, being blunt, you are going to die.”

The judge said that Ferrar’s offending warranted an immediate custodial sentence but managing his declining health would place a burden on the prison service.

“I should be sending you to prison for three or even four years, but I am prepared to depart from the guidelines for sentencing to enable me to pass a sentence that I can suspend,” he said.

“I only do so because the alternative seems to me that you are in the next couple of years going to die.

“Unless you have the expert guidance and help to prevent you from continuing to consume alcohol, death is inevitable, and inevitable quickly.”