AN East End businessman has pleaded for an end to his “nightmare” after almost £240,000 was embezzled from his small business – landing him in a battle with his electricity company.

Jim McVicar’s printing firm was left on the verge of collapse after former account manager Sarah Cockburn transferred cash into her own bank accounts rather than paying the bills as she was supposed to.

Cockburn also invented false payments which looked to be paid to genuine companies when, in fact, the cash was going straight to her. Over the course of her employment at James McVicar Printing Works, she made 779 transactions.

The pensioner was left completely “blindsided”, however, his ordeal worsened when he was thrust into a battle with electricity giant British Gas over a staggering £28,000 bill which, he thought, had been paid.

He said: “It took four years for them to realise the payments hadn’t been made and since then they’ve made my life hell.

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“I’d say 99% of people pay up but I’ve said no because I paid it already. It wasn’t me who did this.

“I have no idea what happened to my money and I’m not allowed to find out. No-one has helped me – not the companies involved or the legal system, no-one.”

Cockburn was jailed last April for 22 months after admitting there was no possibility of repayment to McVicar.

Speaking at her sentencing in Glasgow Sheriff Court, Sheriff Andrew Cubie told Cockburn: “This is highlighted in the information provided to me in relation to British Gas; you took £28,000 due to them; you then persisted in your efforts to persuade both British Gas and your employers that the sums had been paid.

“Your actions caused the day to day running of the business to be affected; for example through the threat to the power supply by your diversion of the British Gas funds and the loss of profit which affected wage increases and recruitment.”

He added: “This was a gross breach of trust. The actions have had material consequences for the company; the owner had to invest significant sums to keep the business going; he had to realise a substantial asset to fund the company.

“Your actions contributed to the company sustaining a loss; the company lost members of the workforce and could not afford to replace them.

“They had an effect on the personal health of the owner, both physical and psychological; his ability to trust any employee has been undermined.”

McVicar, who lives in Bearsden, insists he is the “clear victim” and has pleaded with British Gas to see that he has done nothing wrong having authorised payments, he thought, were being sent to the firm for electricity purposes.

He said: “What they say is she worked for me, she stole the money, so I’m liable. I would ask her ‘have we paid that bill’ but she was transferring it into another account. She was clever, she convinced everyone.

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“Most people would let it go but I’m not most people, so I won’t let it go. I want justice.

“I just want it to be honest, just and fair and I don’t think this is. I paid the bill and she stole it. I’m the victim, I don’t owe any money.”

An independent investigation by the Energy Ombudsman said McVicar was liable to pay the sum back and instructed British Gas to offer a payment plan to help him with his repayments, however, he maintains that he should not be paying the funds back.

It’s understood British Gas has offered to work with McVicar to resolve the issue, including pointing him in the direction of charities that could offer a grant towards the outstanding balance.

An ombudsman spokesperson said: “We appreciate that this must be a very distressing time for Mr McVicar.

“Based on the information provided to us, we agreed with Mr McVicar that there seemed to be a wider issue in relation to payments from his business account and that he was doing the correct thing in following this up with the police.

“We hope that will result in a positive outcome.”

British Gas declined to comment.