A Croydon man has been jailed after admitting to stealing and defrauding his Charlton employer out of around £260,000 to ‘fund a gambling addiction’.

Paul Hearne, 36, of Kemerton Road was sentenced today (September 27) at Woolwich Crown Court to two years and eight months after pleading guilty to theft and fraud by false representation.

While employed as the branch manager of an electrical retailer in Bugsby’s Way between January 2014 and November last year he intercepted high value goods and sold them directly to customers and kept the money.

He also took payments intended for the company and paid them into his own bank accounts.

Over the course of nearly two years Hearne stole £260,526 from the company and created false statements and invoices to conceal his activities.

His activity was uncovered following a stock take carried out by the company in late 2015 and he was suspended by the company who reported him to the police.

Hearne was interviewed by detectives and was presented in two interviews with evidence including his personal bank statements and detailed company reports.

He admitted the fraud and theft and stated he needed the money to fund a gambling addiction.

Detective Constable Scott Albert, Greenwich CID, who led the investigation said: "Hearne was in a position of trust and failed to act responsibly.

“Instead he stole and gambled away monies to the value of hundreds of thousands of pounds affecting the branch's viability to continue trading.

“Hearne's sentence today should act as a warning that offences of this nature carry grave consequences."