Dragons Den winner, Rick Beardsell, has been sentenced after being found guilty of using Covid loans to help buy a £1.3 million home in a sought-after village in Cheshire

A Dragons’ Den winner has been sentenced after pocketing Covid loans(Image: Instagram/ricky_racer_)

A Dragons’ Den winner has been sentenced after pocketing Covid loans to buy a £1.3 million mansion. Rick Beardsell, who had previously received a £75,000 investment from TV Dragons Tej Lalvani and Deborah Meaden in 2015 for his successful protein shake bottle business, ShakeSphere, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, after prosecutors told a judge he had since paid all the money back.

Under the Government’s application rules, the 46-year-old father of two was only entitled to one Bounce Back loan of a maximum £50,000, but he fraudulently applied for two – then exaggerated his annual turnover by up to 23 times.

Beardsell, who has also won a total of seven gold medals for GB in World Masters Athletics Championships, illegally used two Covid business loans worth £100,000 to help finance the purchase of a five-bed property in the sought-after village of Prestbury, Cheshire, which is home to a number of celebrities.

Dragons Den winner, Rick Beardsell, has been sentenced after being found guilty of using Covid loans to help buy a £1.3 million home(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

The dad-of-two was supposed to use the taxpayer’s cash to help his other firm, which sells sportswear, but none of the money he was given went to the company.

Instead, he spent the Covid loan funds to help buy a £1.3 million house in Prestbury while also transferring cash to family members and making mortgage payments.

At Chester Crown Court, Beardsell, who won two World Records for sprinting, holding the fastest record for a 400-metre sprint for a 36-year-old at the 2015 WMA, faced three years jail under sentencing guidelines after he admitted two charges of fraud. However, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison – suspended for two years.

The dad-of-two was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years, after prosecutors told a judge he had since paid all the money back.(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

Beardsell had previously received a healthy investment from TV Dragons Tej Lalvani and Deborah Meaden for his protein shake bottle business, which subsequently helped him get sales of more than a million shakers worldwide across the following two years.

Geoff Whealan, prosecuting for the Insolvency Service, said Beardsell made fraudulent applications for Bounce Back Loans to HSBC in December 2020 and then to NatWest in January 2021 in respect of his other firm, Sports Creative Ltd.

”The defendant stated on the HSBC form that the turnover of Sports Creative was £485,000 and on the NatWest form said it was £320,000 – but unaudited financial statements showed turnover for the year end February 2020 was £20,622.” he said.

Beardsell’s counsel Nichola Cafferkey said in mitigation: ‘The loss of his good character is of some significance in respect of a man who has dedicated his life to his family’(Image: Instagram/ricky_racer_)

”The turnover was clearly exaggerated to secure the maximum bounce back loan, and subsequent transactions showed the bounce back loan funds were not being used for the economic benefit or business purposes of Sports Creative at this time.”

Mr Whelan added: ”In effect, the bounce back loan funds had been used for this purchase, and it can be inferred from the defendant’s conduct that it was his intention to use the bounce back loans for this purpose at the time he made the application for it. But in relation to repayment, the defendant has repaid the bounce back loans to each bank.”

Beardsell’s counsel Nichola Cafferkey said in mitigation: ”The loss of his good character is of some significance in respect of a man who has dedicated his life to his family, his professional entities and also his sporting endeavours.”