City Lawyer Stole To Support Mistress

Christopher Grierson accrued massive debts after taking out a series of bank loans in order, largely, to fund an affair with his New York-based mistress; and in 2008, began stealing from his employers, by fiddling his expenses, as a means of “bridging the gap” in order to maintain the appearance of normality.

Representing Grierson, Mark Ellison QC said that the lawyer had resorted to using call girls “as a means of escape and a source of some sort of affection”, adding: “In January 2006, he entered a totally different league. He became infatuated with a Lebanese woman in New York. He spent £630,000 paying rent on an apartment and paying over £280,000 to her in cash.

“This behaviour was truly bizarre and an indicator of the extent to which he had become derailed.

“This woman gave an impression of admiring him a little and of lifting his spirits.

“He must have lost all reason because he knew deep down that everything about this relationship was false.

“He had been a victim of manipulation, indeed, he might have been a willing victim.”

Grierson admitted four counts of fraud and was handed a three year jail term.

Sentencing, Judge John Price said Grierson had carried out a “well-planned and sophisticated” crime, adding: “You created false documents and you obtained substantial sums of money. You spent money to buy sexual favours and/or affection.”

Read the full story here.