A sales representative with a gambling addiction stole more than £38,000 from his employers Imperial Tobacco, a court heard.
Christopher Ames worked in the van sales team supplying outlets such as petrol stations in an area including Huddersfield, Leeds, Batley and Dewsbury.
He started working for the company in September last year and would check stock levels at the outlets, sell products for payment and should have banked the money received twice weekly into the company account.
Stephanie Hancock, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday he was expected to keep a record of everything done on a tablet and would restock his van of supplies from a distribution company depot.
In June this year the monthly report submitted contained discrepancies which led to an investigation. The stock in Ames’ van was checked and £11,570 worth was found to be unaccounted for in the records.
When the matter was investigated further it was discovered he had been selling stock to the shops but recording nil sales and keeping the money he received for himself instead of banking it for the company.
Of 2,008 items collected by him from the depot 663 had nil sales recorded. The total loss to his employers was £38,076.
Miss Hancock said Ames was spoken to on July 30 about the findings and admitted straight away keeping the cash from certain transactions.
He claimed it had started in June following the death of his mother to find money to pay for her funeral but Miss Hancock told the court the dishonesty had begun before the death of his mother.
She passed away in May and had sold her property prior to that, removing any equity he might have potentially inherited. Ames accepted in interview that he had planned to use such inheritance to pay the money back but it became clear he could not do so.
He said he had a gambling addiction for four to five years which had gone undetected by others and that accounted for the initial theft and then he took more to gamble to try and win enough to pay the money back.
Abdul Shakoor representing Ames said his gambling had gone on over a prolonged period but he had managed to stop for a time at the end of last year.
Unfortunately he resumed again early this year and got into debt. His share of the funeral expenses contributed to that but he accepted the offence began before that.
Mr Shakoor said: “He tried to solve his problems by gambling further but it turned into a spiral compounded by him losing more and more money. He wishes to convey to the court and his former employers his deepest apologies and expresses remorse for his actions. He is distraught he has allowed himself to be put into this situation.”
He said Ames still had £15,000 of debts on credit cards, loans and rent but had now managed to find another job as a customer services advisor.
Ames, 44 of Sykes Close, Soothill, Batley, admitted theft and was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work and a 30 day activity programme.
Recorder Sara Dodd told him he had breached the trust placed in him which had an impact on his former colleagues who would no doubt now be working under tightened procedures “feeling management breathing down their neck not trusting them because of you.”
She said gambling was probably at the root of the offending although the financial circumstances surrounding the death of his mother would not have helped, but she said he had not been in trouble before and had employment and a secure home.
She ruled his benefit from crime was £38,076 but after being told he had no assets made a confiscation order in a nominal £10 to face one day in prison in default.
