The Londis store where Sivaguru Uthayakumar siphoned off electricity

by Julia Roberts

A shopkeeper who siphoned off more than £8,000 in electricity to run his freezer units has been branded "greedy" by a judge.

But Sivaguru Uthayakumar was told a financial penalty would have more impact on him "than sitting in a cell".

The 41-year-old had denied abstracting electricity, but was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

Judge Jeremy Carey read in a probation report that the father-of-two, of Lonsdale Drive, Gillingham, still maintains his innocence.

But, passing sentence, he told Uthayakumar - who runs the Londis store in Maidstone Road, Rainham - to "stop denying the obvious".

"you are a greedy man. you like money and you like the accumulation of it…” – judge jeremy carey

As well as fining him £5,000 and ordering him to pay court costs of £1,500, the judge imposed a six-month jail term - suspended for 12 months - with a condition he carries out 200 hours' unpaid work.

"You are a greedy man," remarked Judge Carey. "You like money and you like the accumulation of it.

"That is my judgment of you having heard you as a witness and seen your financial position and I conclude that you will feel the effect of a sentence more acutely in your pocket than you will by imposing what would have to be a relatively short prison sentence."

Uthayakumar was given until September 7 to pay the fine - or serve three months in default - and until September 28 to pay costs.

He had been found guilty of abstracting electricity worth £8,648 from EDF between September 2009 and September last year.

Judge Carey said the offence was deliberate and sustained - and that Uthayakumar's claim that he was "ignorant" of the electricity supply being diverted was "nonsense".

"No one was going to benefit apart from you," he added.

Sivaguru Uthayakumar was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court

The judge also remarked that Uthayakumar's wife's poor mental health and two young sons had saved him from an immediate jail term.

"As is so often the case, it is those not before the courts who suffer the most," said Judge Carey. "The cost of sending you to prison to the public is not less than about £1,000 a week and, while there would be substantial impact upon your young family and your wife, I suspect that the impact upon you would not be so great."

The cost of the diverted electricity is expected to be repaid to EDF either as compensation or through confiscation proceedings.