Stole over £10,000 from his employer

Jason Craig (42), a former store manager of DFS Furniture Company Ltd, at Crescent Link, pleaded guilty to the theft of £10,402.79.

Craig, of Craigbrack Road, Eglinton, also admitted fraud by abuse of position. The court was told the offences were committed between June 1, 2013 and June 23, 2014.

The Crown Court heard that Craig sent an email to the company’s chief operations manager tendering his resignation.

He then outlined how he had stolen more than £10,000 from the company over the course of a year.

Craig stole the money by altering customer records, manipulating stock records and raiding the petty cash.

The court was told the offending started as a result of work related stress and to feed Craig’s gambling addiction.

Passing sentence, Judge Donna McColgan said the defendant was a trusted employee. However, she said it was doubtful if the offences would have come to light if he hadn’t brought them to the attention of the authorities himself.

The judge said Craig had lost his job and his family would suffer as a result of it.

She said that Craig had also “lost the respect of former colleagues, friends and family” as a result of his offending.

Judge McColgan suspended a 12 month sentence for three years in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case.