A CARLISLE haulage firm boss fraudulently applied for a government loan that he was not entitled to as he desperately fought to keep his business afloat.

A defence barrister told a judge that Stuart Chilton, 38, committed the offence with the sole intention of saving his once thriving business, which was ultimately killed off by the “twin bullets” of Brexit and the pandemic.

The defendant, of Central Avenue, Harraby, Carlisle, admitted fraudulently failing to declare he had previously received a business “bounce back” loan.

The court heard that the scheme was designed to support businesses as they attempted to survive during the pandemic. The loans were provided by commercial lenders, but underwritten by the Government.

Chilton was the sole shareholder and director of his own haulage firm, employing both himself and another driver.

The defendant pleaded guilty on the basis that he made a false representation when applying for a second loan, telling officials at Paragon Bank that it was the only application he had made for a bounce-back loan for his firm.

The rules surrounding such loans strictly limited each firm to one loan application. At an earlier hearing, the prosecution accepted the defendant’s basis of plea - that the sum he fraudulently obtained was limited to £7,500.

Andrew Evans, defending, said: “In the four years since this happened, his life has collapsed; his physical health has collapsed.”

The defendant was now “utterly penniless,” said Mr Evans, who spoke also of the psychological impact on Chilton of losing his business, which he had set up and run since 2011.

The barrister added: “This was his life’s work, destroyed; he had all of his hard work and effort taken from him, with nothing he could do to save it. He was a relatively successful entrepreneur but that it snuffed out by the twin bullets of Brexit and Covid.”

Chilton had made a terrible error, but his motivation was saving the business, though ultimately that did not happen. He used £7,500 of the illegally obtained loan to pay off expenses.

Judge Garrett Byrne noted that Chilton had already made an initial and successful application for a bounce back loan of £45,000 when, in May of 2020, he submitted the second fraudulent application.

“You falsely and misleadingly represented that this was the only application you made on behalf of the company for a bounce back loan,” said the Judge. “The ultimate loser here was Her Majesty’s Government.”

But the judge accepted that the defendant represented a low risk of reoffending and that he had worked hard throughout his life.

“People have spoken very highly of you in references,” continued Judge Byrne, who also noted the four-year delay in concluding the case. There were substantial grounds to believe there was a good prospect of rehabilitation.

He imposed a 16-month jail term suspended for two years. The sentence includes 15 rehabilitation activity days and a two month 7pm to 6am curfew.

Judge Byrne also banned the defendant from acting as a company director or manager for the next three years. He accepted that Chilton was not able to contribute to the £5,000 costs of bringing the case to court.