Assistant manager took £10,000
A FORMER assistant manager at the Co-op Low Cost store in Royston has been spared a jail term after having admitted fiddling more than £10,000. David Phillips initially denied that he had taken any money, but said he had made false entries in paper work t
A FORMER assistant manager at the Co-op Low Cost store in Royston has been spared a jail term after having admitted fiddling more than £10,000.
David Phillips initially denied that he had taken any money, but said he had made false entries in paper work to cover up an error.
But he has since admitted that he did take £10,345.
Phillips, 36, of Fen Road, Chesterton, pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court to 14 charges of false accounting.
He was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, with 80 hours' unpaid work.
Mark Wyeth, prosecuting, said Phillips was employed at the Royston shop between December 2005 and April 2006, and covered his tracks, both in paper and computer records to make it appear more money had been banked than had been.
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Judge Michael Kay QC told him: "It was inevitable this false accounting would be discovered.
"The normal sentence for a person in a position of trust who steals their employer's money is one of immediate custody.
"But I have had the benefit of reading a psychological report which includes details of a very personal nature.
"Also your history of depression has had some very unpleasant consequences, and there is a very low risk of you offending again.
"In those circumstances it is appropriate to suspend the sentence that would normally follow.
