A COMPANY director who gambled away nearly £1.6 million he stole from a pension fund over a 21-month period has assets of only £37,784 to compensate his victims, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Dad-of-one Andrew Petrie, who is serving a six-and-a-half year sentence for theft, had a half share in his house in Gainsborough Mews, Kidderminster, which is on the market for £167,500.

But he also had debts to Sainsburys Bank and Barclaycard and these, with costs which would arise from the house sale, had considerably reduced his assets, said his counsel, Gerry Bermingham.

Judge David Matthews made a confiscation order and said the money should be given as compensation to the trustees of the pension fund of Derby-based MMD Design and Consultancy.

Petrie's trial was told that he thought he could beat the bookmakers but, although he had one success when an investment of £36,000 topped half a million, his debts began to pile up.

Petrie, 43-year-old father of a ten-year-old daughter, was a trusted employee for 19 years for Andrew Evans, who administered the pension fund but, when given sole control, he began taking cash to fund his gambling habit.

Petrie pleaded guilty to three charges of theft and asked for 11 similar offences to be considered. The total sum was £1,592,338.

He even started his own business, AP Turf, in Bromyard but his losses to Betfair were over £1 million despite his claim he had worked out mathematically how to make a profit.

Judge Matthews told him: "You used money to bet on horse racing on a quite extraordinary scale. As a bookmaker, you must have known perfectly well that the odds were against you winning."