Robert Dunlop was victim of fraudster

Darren Johnston, a 40-year-old father-of-eight from Inverary Heights, Larne, was jailed for eight years after being convicted of 50 counts of theft and fraud at Antrim Crown Court last week.

Among victims affected by the four-year deception was former motorcycle ace Robert Dunlop who, at the time he died in 2008, had invested around £400,000 in now-defunct Portrush-based brokerage firm Brian McGee Investments and Pensions.

The crimes, which were carried out between 2004 and 2008, defrauded a number of others including Johnston’s former boss Brian McGee, who lost nearly £500,000, and former hotelier Bob McCook, who was duped out of £230,000.

Sentencing him to seven years in prison and handing out a one-year custody probation order, Judge Corinne Philpott QC said there was little chance that the money would be recouped.

He had “defrauded victims of their life savings in some cases and left his employer near bankrupt”, she said.

“He was able to commit these frauds because he was completely trusted by his employer and had experience in how monies could be transferred and credit obtained without causing suspicion.