A MUSEUM of London worker plotted to kill himself after using his credit card for a spending spree, a court was told.
Wilhelmus Riezebos, 45, splurged on meals out, pub rounds, train tickets and stays in luxury hotels.
He planned to end his life by jumping in front of a train but used the card to buy so much alcohol he was too drunk for the suicide bid, jurors at the Old Bailey were told last week.
The procurement adviser, of Sanderstead Court Avenue, South Croydon, had been working at the City of London museum since 2010 but was heavily indebted to payday lenders. "From the beginning of 2012 he misused this corporate credit card," said prosecutor Charles John-Jules.
Bosses realised something was amiss when Riezebos failed to turn up for work on March 20 and cancelled the card. By that time, he had run up a bill of £2,060.
Two days later, on the day he planned to kill himself, he used it to try to settle a £55 bar tab at the Bunch of Grapes pub near London Bridge station. Mr John-Jules said: "He says he had left work on March 19 with the intention of committing suicide. Over the next few days he was suffering from manic depression and used the card to have, basically, his last pleasant experiences. Eventually the police were informed."
On Thursday he was unanimously convicted of fraud. He was cleared of a separate count of forgery.
