A 'THOROUGHLY dishonest' betting shop boss who plundered almost £30,000 from the till in a sophisticated scam has been jailed for a year.

Jordan Tovell would either pinch customers' winnings or not put their stake through the till after finding a way to manipulate the bookie's computer system.

And when he got wind that investigators were coming to his branch the 24-year-old did a flit, walking out in the middle of the day and leaving town.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how Tovell, who was branch manager for Ladbrokes in the town centre, disappeared on July 31, 2013.

"He left halfway through a shift and didn't return. He also at the same time left his address without paying rent there," she said.

"This was because he became aware there was an investigation in to the computer system where he worked. He had used the computer system to falsify transactions.

"When the security manager looked in to the security system at the branch she found a number of things had been done to the system to show he had been taking money and playing the machines himself."

She said he had also used a colleague's computer in the branch to mask what he had been doing.

The matter was handed to the police who tracked Tovell down to his native Essex where they arrested him.

When he was questioned he produced a number of excuses for the missing money which all had to be investigated and proved to be false.

She said the cctv from the store had to be repeatedly examined to show what he had been saying was wrong, explaining the delay in bringing the case to court.

Tovell, now living in Harlow, Essex, pleaded guilty to theft of £29,547.16p and five charges of false accounting.

Mike Pulsford, defending, said he misused the system relating to the computerised gaming machines in the store.

"It is a question of him either not putting money through the till or customers placing bets and if they win the then would only get part of their winnings and he would get part as well, and there would be no record of it," he said.

"He is a young man who realised, I think, he could make an easy buck. What he didn't realise is things came to a head one day because there was a discrepancy of £4,000, which was far worse than any other loss which I think alerted security."

Since moving back with his parents he said he had got into a new relationship and they are expecting a child in December.

Jailing him Judge Tim Mousley QC said "This was a fairly sophisticated fraud that was clearly thought out and produced significant gains for you.

"It shows that you were thoroughly dishonest: it persisted over a period of a few weeks and it would have continued for longer had you not been found out.

"You, as a branch manager, were involved in an extreme breach of trust against your employer.

"I can't overlook the fact that while there had been a delay a good deal of that delay was caused by the stance you took when you were interviewed by the police who were involved in a number of fool's errands to investigate what you did."

As well as jailing him for a year he also ordered he pay £9,000 compensation within the next 56 days.