An executive with the supermarket giant Morrisons has been jailed for 12 months for a £203,000 insider trading crime. Paul Coyle, 50, profited from dealing in his company’s shares around the time of a £216m deal with the online retailer Ocado which sent share values soaring. Using the name of his partner he bought Morrisons shares before the lucrative tie-up was made public and sold them for a profit the day after it was announced. Paul Coyle, 50, has been jailed for a year after he used his inside knowledge at Morrisons to personally profit in shares . Coyle was the supermarket’s group treasurer and head of tax and was ‘at the heart’ of talks with Ocado over the development of their online business. He illegally used his inside knowledge for personal profit. The series of deals – in the name of 28-year-old Emma Baker – made a profit of £79,431. However, the total ‘benefit’ from his crime which he must repay was put at £203,234. This was comprised of the value of shares bought and profits from the deals. He faces a further two-and-a-half years behind bars if the money is not repaid within two months, Leeds Crown Court was told. Coyle, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, admitted two charges of insider dealing and was also ordered to pay £15,000 costs. Mr Justice Globe said while he accepted his remorse was genuine, his offending was so serious there had to be an immediate jail term. ‘You came into possession of that information by your senior position within the organisation. Your breach of trust was significant,’ he said. ‘Whatever your real motivation was, your actions were deliberate and in my judgment dishonest. You knew at the time what you were doing was illegal. Your actions continued over a three month period and involved a number of individual trades.’ The judge told him: ‘insider dealing is not a victimless crime, harm has been caused by your actions, it has an impact on the overall public confidence in the integrity of the market.’ Coyle, a former Inland Revenue inspector, was a senior and trusted member of the Morrisons executive team. Laura Mackinnon, prosecuting, said he signed documents indicating he was aware of the restrictions imposed by his ‘insider’ status. He initially made a £8,000 profit by buying company shares before the March 2013 announcement that discussions were being held with Ocado and selling them the day after. He bought around the time of a £216m deal between Morrisons and the online retailer Ocado which sent share values soaring and sold the day after it was announced . The father-of-four continued to abuse his position by buying and selling a further 100,000 shares as the company share price fluctuated amid market speculation. During that period he banked a further £11,000. Then in May, after an official announcement was made that the two firms had reached a formal agreement, he sold the rest of his shares making £60,000. Neil Hawes, QC, defending, said Coyle had not touched the money he had made. He said his client had been under stress in his job as senior staff were ‘fire- fighting’ issues in the company. ‘He accepts he had a senior and important role at Morrison, he was in the confidence of senior management, privy to confidential material and trusted.’ Coyle lost his job and has not worked since. A spokesman for Morrisons said they were ‘pleased’ the Financial Conduct Authority investigation ‘did not raise wider concerns for the company.’ ‘While this was a regrettable case of an individual acting alone we are pleased that our governance and processes were sufficiently robust to enable the authorities to achieve a successful prosecution.’
Paul Coyle, 50, illegally used his partner's name to profit from shares deals . He bought around the time of a £216million deal with online retailer Ocado . Former head of tax then sold the day after lucrative deal was announced . Coyle made a profit of £79,431 but total repayable 'benefit' put at £203,234 . He faces further two-and-a-half years in jail if it is not repaid in two months .