A bankrupt landlord has been handed a suspended sentence after he “took advantage” of a taxpayer-backed Covid loan scheme by applying for tens of thousands of pounds – despite his pub closing before the pandemic.
Gary Wright, 46, was given a £25,000 bounce-back loan on behalf of his Talbot Ale House in St Helens, Merseyside, in June 2020.
The bounce-back scheme was introduced to help small businesses through the pandemic by allowing applicants to borrow up to £50,000 at a low interest rate.
But Wright’s pub closed down in September 2019, six months before the first Covid lockdown, and he was declared bankrupt in February 2020.
He was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 150 hours of…
