[bigboydan]

Bookie stole £1,659 from false bets

By Andrew Bellard

A trainee betting shop manager could go to prison after a winning streak' was uncovered by an internal audit as theft.

Blackburn magistrates heard that John Joseph Holden was settling bets in his favour even when they were losers.

And over an 11-day period he took £1,659 off his employer, Coral Bookmaker.

Holden, 21, of Glebe Close, Accrington, pleaded guilty to three charges of theft from his employer and asked for six similar offences to be taken into consideration.

He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report with a warning that custody would be an option for the sentencing bench.

Scott Ainge, prosecuting, said Holden had been taken on as a trainee manager by Coral in January and had been employed at the Dyson Street, Blackburn, branch.

He said over an 11-day period Holden placed bets using his own stake money.

"Irrespective of whether those bets were winners he has settled them as if they were successful," said Mr Ainge.

The sums taken, as revealed by an internal check by Coral, were £49 on May 10, £14 and £25 on May 12, £77, £83, £177, £219 and £339 on May 19 and £655 on May 21.

When interviewed by police, Holden said he had processed each slip as though it was a winning one.

"He made each slip look different and wrote them in a scruffy way to try and avoid detection," said Mr Ainge.

Jonathan Taylor, defending, said the thefts were doomed to failure from the start and Holden must have realised that.

"He, as an employee, was fully aware of the sophisticated systems that are in place in a modern betting shop to ensure security," said Mr Taylor.

"Every bet is scanned into a central computer and the system is foolproof."

He said Holden and his partner had a 20-week-old baby and had got into debt preparing for the arrival and looking after the child.

"He realises he has been incredibly stupid but these were the actions of a desperate individual," said Mr Taylor.

"In his own mind he knew ultimately he was going to be caught but in the face of ever increasing debt he took the risk."