A wine bar owner who police say used his business to launder the proceeds of a ‘brazen’ £330,000 book theft escaped jail today by the ‘slimmest of margins’.
Christopher Nunn took over the Wine Vaults Bar and Restaurant in Beccles, Suffolk, in 2022 – three years after he began swiping stock from a book printing business where he worked and selling it on Amazon.
But his illicit business model collapsed in 2023 when a customer rang the publishers to ask why the books were so cheap online.
Nunn – who attempted to hide his face when turning up to court for various appearances, using his jacket and even a Scream mask on one occasion – appeared surprised and raised an eyebrow at his wife as he was given a two-year jail term today, suspended for 24 months.
Recorder John Brooke-Smith, who heard the defendant had two children with ‘additional needs’, told him: ‘By the slimmest of margins – given the very high level of the loss to the business – I am prepared to say that if I sent you to prison now, the impact on those children would be disproportionate.’
Ipswich Crown Court heard that Nunn, 43, was a night shift printer for a firm called CIP Cowes in Beccles, which has run for over 200 years.
He took advantage of CCTV cameras in the warehouse which monitored walkways but not the high shelves where the books were stacked and began taking volumes in March 2019.
The high-value titles were from LexisNexis, which publishes specialist legal, tax and accountancy books. They are considered essential texts for lawyers and accountants and can sell for several hundred pounds each.
Christopher Nunn, 43, stole books worth almost £330,000 during night shifts working as a printer before selling them online
The shamed businessman tried to avoid being photographed during court appearances, wearing a Scream mask on one occasion
It was only in October 2023 that enquiries were made about missing stock and suspicion eventually fell on Nunn.
A search of his home in the town led to the seizure of stock and he was found to be a registered vendor on Amazon, with five bank accounts linked to the online retailer.
Nunn admitted theft at a hearing earlier this year and the licence for his wine bar was revoked by East Suffolk Council’s licensing sub-committee while he was on bail awaiting his sentence.
The decision was taken on the grounds that his conviction was ‘incompatible with the promotion of the licensing objective for the prevention of crime and disorder’.
The sub-committee heard from John Corkett, a licensing officer at Suffolk Constabulary, who claimed money from the book sales by Nunn’s company, UKTopSellers, was put through the Wine Vaults as a way of laundering it.
‘It’s almost impossible to come to any other conclusion, that this is illegitimate money being passed through these accounts,’ he said.
James Winter-Whitaker, who represented Nunn at the hearing, claimed there were ‘errors’ in the police statement.
Nunn was also charged with fraud and converting criminal property initially, although prosecutors decided not to take them further after he admitted the theft charge.
Police claim Nunn used the Wine Vaults Bar and Restaurant in Beccles, Suffolk, which he bought in 2022, to launder the proceeds of his crime
The fraud charge alleged he falsely represented that UKTopSellers was entitled to sell LexisNexis titles through Amazon.
The last count stated he concealed, disguised, converted, transferred or removed criminal property by passing money through accounts he operated.
The court heard today that the books were worth almost £330,000 at the normal sale price. Nunn sold them for a total of around £205,000 and retained £163,000 after fees were deducted by Amazon.
The crimes were committed to pay off ‘significant gambling debts’ and while ‘trying to discharge the drug debt of one of your sons’.
However, the judge pointed out the defendant had used ‘£70,000 from the sale of various cars’ in November 2022 which he could have used ‘to clear your gambling debts’.
Edward Renvoize, defending, argued his client should receive a lesser sentence because his night shift post meant he wasn’t in a high position of trust, while his children relied on his help.
He added a psychiatric report had found his client to be of ‘low to average intelligence’, saying: ‘This is enormously unsophisticated.
‘What he was doing is taking books and selling them on Amazon in a way that would lead directly to his door.’
In a victim impact statement, CPI Cowes said: ‘LexisNexis never see their books. We print them, sort them and sell them.
The wine bar lost its licence following a hearing by East Suffolk’s licensing sub-committee, which concluded his conviction was ‘incompatible with the promotion of the licensing objective for the prevention of crime and disorder’
‘Prior to Covid, a representative from LexisNexis came in to count the books but this changed.
‘As well as Nunn taking the books he also took packaging from the warehouse to send the books away.
‘The brazenness and pre-meditation was beyond belief.’
After hearing the statement, the judge told Nunn: ‘One of the consequences of the crime is you have put uncertainty into the minds of staff.
‘They [the company] were very, very worried that their main client [LexisNexis] would leave and they would lose their jobs and suffer significant financial loss.
‘The financial effect on the company has been huge but the harm goes way beyond. The company has had to put in place £10,000 [of security at the warehouse].
‘It’s affected the people who work there. Where there was once trust, there are now cages and CCTV cameras.’
Nunn’s wife, Lynsey Wickham-Nunn – who committed no offence – was in court today and smiled at him when he received the suspended sentence.
Interviewed in November 2022 about taking over the Wine Vaults, she said excitedly: ‘We regularly visited the Wine Vaults. I’m a real foodie and we loved it there.
‘It was initially my husband’s idea to take it over. His job is in printing works and I was a stay-at-home mum of four.
‘We have never owned or run a business like this before, so it was a massive jump. But we thought “why not?” and just went for it.’
She added: ‘We won’t really be making any changes. Our thinking is “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it”.’
Nunn was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, which organises activities designed to reduce the risk of reoffending.
