Mortgage adviser jailed for 18 months

Robert Harwood, aged 55, who initially pleaded not guilty changed his mind to eventually plead guilty at the crown court in Leamington Spa to two alternative offences of theft. According to the Coventry Telegraph, prosecutor Neil Bannister said that in 2006 a couple called Dickinson decided to set up a small business running a cattery, and borrowed £70,000 from a friend. Unable to borrow from a high street bank, they decided to try a mortgage broker and turned to Harwood's business Roche Commercial. He went to their home where they completed a mortgage application form and paid a £345...