A staff member swiped more than £1,500 in cash from a shop's till after the store's bereaved owner left him in charge.
Kevin Webb also helped himself to stock including snacks and drinks when the grieving shopkeeper had flown home to South Africa. Liverpool Magistrates' Court heard yesterday, Thursday, that the 39-year-old was employed as a general worker at Boets Bitlong - a store selling South African goods on Wallasey Road in Liscard, Wirral.
Owner Nigel Biffen was forced to return to his home country on October 5 last year after a death in family and instructed Webb to "look after the shop". But upon his return around a month later, he discovered that the takings were down.
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The defendant admitted taking the £1,563.05 and said he would pay the money back, but "has made no attempt to do so". During Mr Biffen's absence, Webb - who has one previous convictions for two "unrelated" offences - had falsely been telling customers the card machine was not working so they would have to pay in cash and was also "helping himself to food and drink from store".
Defending, Sinead Fearon told the court: "He wants to stress he wanted to pay the complainant back, but he didn't know how to go about it because the complainant told him he didn't want to see him again. The defendant is dealing with mental health issues.
"He's ashamed of his actions and apologises. Hopefully we will not see him any time in the future."
Webb, of Wallasey Road, admitted theft by employee and was handed a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days. He was also repay the stolen amount in compensation, plus £400 in court costs and a victim surcharge.
Sentencing, District Judge John Clark said: "This involved a degree of a breach of trust. This was a new responsibility, but you took advantage of the absence of Mr Biffen because of bereavement.
"There has been a degree of an impact on the business, but hopefully this is something it will be able to recover from. The ultimate sanction if you fail to comply is you can be sent into custody."
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