A PAIR of scammers who defrauded a family-run company for more than £725,000 have been jailed.

Simon Bleakley, 45, and Jeremy Dawes, 47, pleaded guilty to taking the money from Westhoughton-based asbestos removal firm Malrod Environmental after a series of payments were made to fake sub-contractors.

Judge Mark Brown at Preston Crown Court heard how the money was then spent on frequent holidays, leisure activities and expensive clothing. Bleakley had even sent Dawes a video of himself and his wife Patricia showing off a new Mercedes they had just purchased.

Dawes, who was previously sent to prison for 12 months for a similar offence in 2010, was handed a jail term of four years and eight months, while his co-conspirator Bleakley was given three years and three months.

Patricia Bleakley was also sentenced for converting criminal property after a large portion of the money went into joint accounts in her name and given an 18-month suspended sentence, with an order to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

Sentencing, Mr Brown said: "Simon Bleakley, you saw that there were flaws in the company's financial position and you decided to take advantage of them."

He added: "Jeremy Dawes, having started working for the company, had discovered that the fraud was in place and decided to join in the scam, but it was then on a much more substantial scale."

Julian Mills, the owner of Malrod, explained that losing out on the money had thrown the company into financial hardship, with a staff of 30 reduced to between 12 and 15.

He had inherited the firm from his father and said the stress of the situation has caused him to suffer from high blood pressure and lose sleep, while fraudulent tax statements made by Dawes caused the company to get into trouble which HMRC and ultimately fall into liquidation.

While Malrod continues to operate it has lost business and clients, Mr Mills said.

The court heard that Simon Bleakley had been the original architect of the scam during his time working at Malrod as a part-time financial assistant. He held the position for 15 years but evidence of his fraud goes back to 2012.

He had been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in 1999, which left him in a wheelchair.

Defending, Kevin Liston, spoke of how the man needs care for "all hours of the day".

In 2014, Dawes joined the company as a financial manager and was given a salary of around £30,000 a year as well as a company car. However, after he discovered what had been happening he also decided to take part.

Individually, Bleakley, of Kelso Grove, Hindley, is thought to have gained more than £275,000 from the scheme, he has since paid back around £100,000. Dawes, of Ringway Avenue, Leigh, made as much as £450,000, with £45,000 paid back. Both were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, fraud by abuse of position and transferring criminal property.