British athlete Ricky Stevenson was jailed for two and a half years for theft of £40,000 in 2020 from a bed and breakfast he managed. The money was taken to help fuel his cocaine and gambling addictions.

The 34-year-old is known for winning the short course of the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International in 2010 and in the process beating Mo Farah.

His best performance, time-wise would be his indoor mile in New York that same year when he ran 3:56.31. Two years later in Dublin he ran his best outdoor mile in the time of 3:57.57.

Falling down

When the Covid pandemic was declared, the business was surviving off of government pandemic loans. Stevenson claimed that the reason the money was disappearing was due to guests not showing up due to the pandemic. He later admitted the theft, but it was too late. Stevenson had caused a near collapse of the business.

According to the BBC, Police Staff Investigator Rob Henderson said Stevenson had been a “close acquaintance” of the business owner who had placed him in a position of trust and let him live rent-free at the site.

“He breached this trust in a most outrageous and calculated way for his own selfish gain,” he said.

“Stevenson’s actions almost brought about the collapse of the business and caused untold upset and stress for the owner at a time when the business was surviving on Covid loans due to the restrictions in place.”