10:13 am, May 5, 2026
A corrupt car dealer has narrowly avoided jail after admitting to defrauding two employers out of £176,000 in order to fund his gambling addiction.
Joe McStein ran sophisticated fraud campaigns while working at the now defunct Evans Halshaw Ford Northwich and Williams BMW in Liverpool.
The 31-year-old stole both money and cars to pay for his ‘entrenched’ addiction but has been spared jail after making ‘full and frank’ admissions of guilt.
The Warrington Guardian reports that McStein worked as a sales leader at the Evans Halshaw site throughout 2023, giving him ‘privileged access’ to financial systems.
He used this access to siphon off almost £41,000, taking cash that customers had paid for cars and pocketing it himself.
Concerns were first raised in September 2023, when a manager discovered that McStein had allowed a car to be released despite an outstanding £3,000 balance, which went against company rules.
When questioned, the salesman confessed he had taken the payment himself, with a subsequent inquiry uncovering wider misconduct involving hidden cash payments and funds sent to his personal account.
The case was eventually handed over to Cheshire Police, who presented McStein with eight criminal transactions adding up to almost £41,000, in January 2025.
When confronted with the charges, the car dealer made a ‘full and frank admission’, having previously told bosses that he ‘knew this was coming’.
Despite this, he continued to act illegally when he got a new job as a sales manager at Williams BMW, just weeks later.
Over seven months working at the site, McStein stole 11 premium cars, of which only two were later recovered.
The scheme resulted in the dealer group suffering a loss of £135,640, as well as £11,000 in good will payments.
The case was investigated by Merseyside Police and he once again admitted to the offences when they were put to him.
He has now appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, where he had been expected to be jailed for the offences. However, Judge Garrett Byrne decided against imposing an immediate custodial sentence.
Instead, he gave him a two years in prison sentence, suspended for two years. The defendant, of Vogan Avenue, Crosby, was also ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work, 30 days rehabilitation activity with the Probation Service, and undergo 12 months mental health treatment.
Adressing McStein at the hearing, the judge said: ‘Ordinarily, there would be no question you deserve to go straight to prison.
‘You were in a senior, trusted position, yet you abused this trust to steal large sums of money from your employer.
‘There are also elements of sophistication in the means you used to cover your tracks. However, there are features of this case which are truly exceptional, and I admit, I have never seen them before.
‘You have an entrenched gambling disorder from a blueprint laid down psychologically at the age of seven, which you are now trying to escape.
‘You are making extensive and sincere attempts to rehabilitate yourself; you have not gambled since 2024; and you have handed over all financial control to your partner.’
