The deputy manager of a pet shop has admitted stealing while his boss was away on holiday.

Neil Dyason was acting manager of the Pets at Home store in Dewsbury when he pocketed the cash from fake refunds.

And when he was caught, the 43-year-old told his colleagues to shove the job and walked out.

Dyason, of Market Street, Heckmondwike, pleaded guilty to four charges of theft by employee when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

The offences occurred between June 8 and 13 while Dyason was left in charge the Railway Street shop while the store manager was on holiday.

Shamaila Qureshi, prosecuting, said that an investigation was conducted into financial irregularities involving examining till receipts and viewing CCTV footage.

Dyason was discovered to have made four fraudulent refunds, the Huddersfield court heard.

He scanned codes for items including a pet harness and dog food while there was no customer present at his till.

Dyason then disposed of the customer copy of the refund receipt, keeping the store copy showing the fake refund.

He then took the cash meant to have been refunded to the customer for himself while cashing up at the end of the day.

Mrs Qureshi said that the attention of store loss prevention officers were drawn to Dyason because of the number of refunds he made during his time in charge.

She told magistrates: “CCTV showed him making the refund at the till with no customers there.

“He’s scanned the barcode and signed the receipts.

“He was interviewed and declined to explain, telling the officer to ‘shove the job up your f****** a***.’”

Magistrates were told that Dyason, who had no previous convictions, has since left the company and is now working as a delivery driver.

Ian Whiteley, mitigating, acknowledged that his client’s case was aggravated by his position and the fact that he brought suspicion on other members of staff.

Magistrates sentenced Dyason to a community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and up to 10 days of rehabilitative activities.

He must pay £80.97 to the store as well as £85 costs and victim surcharge.