Decorator’s coke habit cost the boss £21k

A decorator who cheated his boss out of £21,000 to feed his cocaine habit was spared jail. Ricky Clarke, 31, used Gavin Hales’ company card to buy lead products, then sold it cut price to a scrapyard. Father-of-two Clarke made 70 trips to the lead suppliers between August 2015 and May 2016. He was finally caught when Mr Hale’s accountant alerted him to an alarming quantity of lead purchases, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. Angela O’Dwyer, prosecuting, said: ‘Clarke was an…