Store Manager Stole £35k To Feed Gambling Habit

UK Casino Times > Casino News

02 July 2005

Store Manager Stole £35k To Feed Gambling Habit

A department store boss who stole £35,000 to gamble on roulette wheels escaped jail after a judge heard his crimes were fuelled by grief.

Andrew Gittings, 24, of The Drive, Bexley, sought solace in casinos after witnessing the death of a friend in a brutal attack.

Gittings, then a wedding gifts manager at Peter Jones in Chelsea, dipped into the till as his gambling addiction spiralled out of control.

But he walked free from Blackfriars Crown Court on Monday after a judge accepted his actions over 14 months were triggered by post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Sentencing Gittings to 15 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, Judge David Martineau said: "These sums were stolen from Peter Jones when you were in a position of trust as manager of the wedding gift department.

"I take the view that this case passes by a long way what would normally be the custody threshold - but I have decided not to impose an immediate custodial sentence upon you. You have been exposed to something well out of the ordinary experience of young men of your age in that you have had the horrific experience of being in the company of a friend who, as a result of a criminal assault, lost his life and then had to give evidence in a subsequent criminal trial."

Mark Gadsden, prosecuting, told the court earlier: "The defendant realised the refunds system was open to abuse by him because, as a manager, he was the person who needed to sign off these items. So he organised refunds to his credit or debit cards."

In May last year, Gittings left Peter Jones for a job as a civilian worker at Bethnal Green police station.

But he carried on stealing from the department store.

Internal checks finally revealed the scam and he was arrested when he admitted what he had done.

The court was told Gittings started gambling in his mid-teens after his father was left disabled following an accident.

It became a "severe addiction" after witnessing his friend killed with a punch to the head during birthday celebrations in September 2000.

Gittings later gave evidence in the attacker's trial which resulted in a conviction for manslaughter.

Gittings had admitted 25 counts of theft between May 2003 and July last year.

The judge also ordered Gittings to pay £2,000 compensation to Peter Jones.