AN IT specialist who stole laptops from Nationwide to sell on eBay has been given a last chance to complete his community service.

Graeme Leighfield was twice spared a prison sentence jail last year after being convicted of theft and then failing to do his community order.

The 21-year-old again failed to turn up to do the work at the start of the year leaving more than 85 hours to do before August 11. But after he insisted he would be able to do the work a judge at Swindon Crown Court gave him one more opportunity - and added a further 20 hours to the order.

Leighfield, who worked as a system specialist at the building society's Swindon headquarters, was told to do 150 hours' community service and a year of probation in August last year. Within a month of being given the chance he stopped attending his probation appointments but was given a chance and had seven hours added to it.

Paul Grumbar, defending, said his client was working as an IT contractor to pay off court fines so he can avoid a seven-day prison sentence for non-payment.

In the next week or so he said he will have saved enough to settle the debt and will then be able to take two weeks off work to do the unpaid work.

Allowing the order to continue Recorder Ian Pringle QC said: "If you don't do it you will be back before the court and dealt with in a new way and it may be custody."

Leighfield appeared before the court in custody after failing to attend an earlier hearing where the court heard letters sent to him had been returned not known at this address'.

At an earlier hearing Leighfield had told the court how his life had been thrown into chaos following his conviction for stealing the six computers.

He said that, having fired him, Nationwide had called in all his credit card debts, overdraft and loans leaving him penniless.

He was caught after a family complained to the police having paid him £195 and not receiving the computer.

One of Leighfield's jobs was to assess old machines to see if they could be salvaged before they went to a company who sold them on for the building society.

Leighfield, formerly of Glevum Road, Stratton, and Blunsdon Road, had pleaded guilty to six thefts and one count of obtaining money by deception.